The Fugates had been married for 20 years before a divorce that led a judge to order the two to stay away from each other. But on May 4, 199, Pattie and Mark Fugate returned to their Putnam County home to find Buck Fugate hiding in the basement. During the trial, testimony showed that Fugate broke into her Lake Sinclair home and waited for her and their son, Mark, to come home. He forced her outside at gunpoint where he pistol-whipped her about 50 times before fatally shooting her in the forehead. The son told jurors how his mother was slain and said he thought his father should die in Georgia's electric chair. The day Fugate killed his ex-wife, their son Mark had tried to shoot his father to keep his mother from being harmed. A year later, Mark Fugate was beaten to death by 2 supposed friends inside the family home. In that case, Jeffrey Cross was sentenced to life without parole. Shawn Watley also pleaded guilty to murder and is serving 2 life sentences.

UPDATE: A 52-year-old man convicted of the 1991 shooting death of his former wife was executed by lethal injection at a Georgia state prison on Friday night, a spokeswoman said. Wallace Fugate was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson, Georgia, about 50 miles southeast of Atlanta, according to Peggy Chapman, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections. Chapman said Fugate made a final statement before his execution calling the U.S. criminal justice system corrupt, thanking his lawyers and saying he loved his son. Fugate's execution had been set for Wednesday, but was halted by the Georgia Supreme Court less than an hour before it was to take place. The state high court lifted its stay on Friday evening, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution. Fugate was sentenced to death for the 1991 slaying of Pattie Fugate. Fugate killed her during a struggle outside the family home, according to court testimony. But he insisted the gun fired accidentally as he and his wife scuffled inside a van. Last year, Georgia switched to the use of lethal injection after the state Supreme Court ruled that the electric chair inflicted needless pain and suffering on condemned inmates. Chapman said Fugate did not receive a special final meal before his execution because he had been served such a meal on Wednesday. She said Fugate was given the same meal -- spaghetti, salad and a roll -- as the rest of the inmates after being served sirloin steak, lobster, baked potato and butterscotch ice cream on Wednesday.

Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (Fugate News)

Macon Telegraph (AP August 16, 2002)

"State Executes Convicted Killer Wallace Fugate," by Kristen Wyatt. JACKSON, Ga. - Wallace M. Fugate III, convicted of killing his wife in front of their 15-year-old son in 1991, was executed Friday after two narrow escapes from the death chamber. Fugate 52, was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m., the seventh man put to death since Georgia adopted lethal injection as its method of execution.

Before a lethal sequence of three chemicals was pumped into his body, Fugate said very little beyond thanking his attorneys, who won last-minute stays of execution in June and then again this week. He then said goodbyes to his slain wife and dead son. His last words were: "I feel right with God. Nothing to worry about." After being administered the sedative sodium pentothal, followed by Pavulon to paralyze his lungs, and potassium chloride to stop his heart, Fugate nodded to his attorney and a paralegal, smiled weakly, then yawned, rolled his head to the right and died.

His attorney, Stephen Bright, said that before the execution Fugate had met with his parents for the second time in three days, and spoke warmly of his wife, Pattie, and son, Mark, who was slain five years after his mother in an unrelated case. A federal judge refused Fugate's claim Tuesday that lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel because it may be possible for prisoners to feel intense pain if the sedative wears off before death.

Fugate fatally shot his wife during a struggle outside the family home in Putnam County, according to court testimony. But he insisted the gun fired accidently after he took it out to a van and they scuffled inside. Mark Fugate gave two accounts of his mother's death. He told police his view was blocked and that he could not tell whether Fugate grabbed his mother by the hair and fired the gun in her face. At the trial, he testified that he saw his father tilt his mother's head back, pull the trigger and then look at him and smile.

The record of the trial and appeals shows Fugate's appointed trial lawyers did not challenge the son's testimony, nor did they hire an investigator to check the account. The lawyers also appeared to be unfamiliar with any significant Supreme Court decisions concerning the death penalty. But a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence last summer, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal in May. The state Supreme Court denied his appeal on Wednesday and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay Friday night.

He was the 30th prisoner executed since Georgia resumed capital punishment in 1973. One woman and 119 men remain on death row.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AP August 17, 2002)

"Convicted Wife-Killer is Executed."

JACKSON -- A man convicted of killing his wife in front of their 15-year-old son in 1991 was executed Tuesday. Wallace M. Fugate III, 52, was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m., the seventh man put to death since Georgia adopted lethal injection as its method of execution.

A lethal sequence of three chemicals was pumped into Fugate's body to take his life -- the sedative sodium pentothal first, followed by Pavulon to paralyze his lungs, and potassium chloride to stop his heart. A federal judge refused Fugate's claim Tuesday that lethal injection is illegally cruel because it may be possible for prisoners to feel intense pain if the sedative wears off before death.

Fugate, of Putnam County, was sentenced to die for the fatal shooting of his wife, Pattie. Fugate killed her during a struggle outside the family home, according to court testimony. But he insisted the gun fired accidently after he took it out to a van and they scuffled inside. Fugate's son, Mark, who was slain five years after his mother in an unrelated case, gave two accounts of his mother's death. He told police his view was blocked and that he could not tell whether Fugate grabbed his mother by the hair and fired the gun in her face. At the trial, he testified that he saw his father tilt his mother's head back, pull the trigger and then look at him and smile.

The record of the trial and appeals shows Fugate's appointed trial lawyers did not challenge the son's testimony, nor did they hire an investigator to check the account. The lawyers also appeared to be unfamiliar with any significant Supreme Court decisions concerning the death penalty. But a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence last summer, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal in May. The state Supreme Court denied his appeal on Wednesday and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay Friday night.

He was the 30th prisoner executed since Georgia resumed capital punishment in 1973. One woman and 119 men remain on death row.

Savannah Morning News (AP) "Fugate Gets Another Stay."

JACKSON -- Convicted wife-killer Wallace Fugate was spared execution 45 minutes before he was scheduled to die Wednesday when the Georgia Supreme Court issued a stay. The court said it wanted more time to consider Fugate's claim that the state Pardons and Paroles Board unfairly denied him clemency. Corrections officials said Fugate had eaten what was to be his last meal and said goodbye to his parents and a sister. It was the second last-minute stay of execution for Fugate, who got a reprieve two hours before his scheduled death on June 18.

Fugate's attorney, Stephen Bright, said the pardons board had a conflict of interest when it denied clemency. "You can't have a clemency hearing while you're trying to kill the man, but they did," Bright said. Last month, the board held a clemency hearing for Fugate after asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the June 18 stay. Bright said that showed that the board had become adversarial to Fugate. Bright said Fugate was anxious and somber, but hopeful a second stay would be issued. "It's a tortuous process. This makes two times Mr. Fugate has said goodbye to his loved ones," he said.

The Supreme Court can lift the stay during the next several days, clearing the way for Fugate's execution. If the matter is not decided within that time, a new death warrant must be issued by a Superior Court judge. About half a dozen anti-death penalty protesters cheered when they heard there had been a stay. It was the second time that Fugate had eaten a meal of lobster, steak, baked potato and butter pecan ice cream, thinking that it would be his last meal.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence last summer, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal in May. On Tuesday, a federal judge refused Fugate's claim that lethal injection is illegally cruel because it may be possible for prisoners to feel intense pain if the sedative wears off before death.

Fugate, 52, of Putnam County, was sentenced to die for the fatal shooting of his wife, Pattie. He killed her during a struggle outside the family home, according to court testimony. But he insisted the gun fired accidentally after he took her out to a van and they scuffled inside. Fugate's son, Mark, who was slain five years after his mother in an unrelated case, gave two accounts of his mother's death. He told police his view was blocked and that he could not tell whether Fugate grabbed his mother by the hair and fired the gun in her face. At the trial, he testified that he saw his father tilt his mother's head back, pull the trigger and then look at him and smile.

The record of the trial and appeals shows Fugate's appointed trial lawyers did not challenge the son's testimony, nor did they hire an investigator to check the account. The lawyers also appeared to be unfamiliar with any significant Supreme Court decisions concerning the death penalty.

Fugate would have been the 30th prisoner executed since Georgia resumed capital punishment in 1973. One woman and 119 other men remain on death row.

Macon Telegraph (Aug. 15, 2002)

"Fugate Gets 2nd Last-Minute Stay," by Rob Peecher.

JACKSON - Wallace "Buck" Fugate III was within an hour of being put to death Wednesday evening when he received word that the Georgia Supreme Court stayed his execution to consider an appeal filed by Fugate's attorney Stephen Bright.

Bright was jubilant after receiving word of the stay about 6:20 p.m. through a cell phone while standing with members of the media and a handful of death penalty protesters outside the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, where Georgia's executions take place. Fugate was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. The temporary stay issued by the state's highest court could be lifted and Fugate put to death at any time until noon Wednesday, when the court-ordered seven-day window for his execution ends. Fugate was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of his ex-wife, Pattie Fugate. Wednesday's stay was the second time this summer Fugate had received a stay within hours of his scheduled execution.

In June, Fugate learned about two hours before he was due to be executed that he would receive a stay because his petition for clemency had not been heard by a full parole board. Two board members under investigation had resigned just days before Fugate's hearing.

Bright, who represents death-row inmates for the Southern Center for Human Rights, said he had appeals pending before both the Georgia and U.S. Supreme Courts, which also could have given Fugate a last-minute stay. The Georgia Supreme Court appeal is based on a Monday hearing in Fulton County Superior Court, where it was revealed the State Board of Pardons and Paroles was relying on possibly incorrect information in deciding whether to grant Fugate clemency. Transcripts from that Monday hearing were not available Wednesday for review by the Supreme Court, prompting the court to issue the stay, said Sara Totonchi, public policy coordinator for the Southern Center for Human Rights. Bright said he learned at the end of Monday's hearing that the parole board had met with and received information from individuals opposed to clemency for Fugate. Bright said some of the information that board members heard was incorrect, but because the meeting was held in private and without his knowledge, Bright said he still does not know who met with the board or all of what they said. "I assume it was local prosecutors and members of the family" the board met with, Bright said.

These closed door meetings are not uncommon for those seeking or opposed to clemency for inmates facing death, Bright said. The board routinely meets with those both in favor of and opposed to clemency, and in Fugate's case Bright did address the board in a similar meeting, Bright said. "You get to come and say what you want to say, and a lot of times (the board members) just sit there and don't say anything," Bright said.

Bright said someone who met with the board to urge it to deny clemency for Fugate said Fugate had raped his ex-wife. That information, Bright said, is incorrect, though the parole board did not know that. It was unclear Wednesday if the Supreme Court will hear arguments, but Bright said he hopes it will grant Fugate a trial on the issue of clemency.

Fugate wrote a letter inviting Gov. Roy Barnes to attend Wednesday's execution. "Please consider this as a means to show the world you have the courage of your convictions and attend my execution. For the very first time you can witness the results of our state's decision and have the courage to look me in the eye in my dying moments knowing I am being sacrificed only because I was too poor to afford to hire decent lawyers and because I live in the middle of the 'Death Belt,' " Fugate wrote. Bright has maintained that Fugate's trial attorneys - who he said were not criminal defense attorneys - failed to give Fugate adequate representation. Fugate continues to claim the shooting of his ex-wife was an accident, that the gun in his hand went off during a struggle with his ex-wife. Fugate's son was with his mother when the two returned home to find Fugate there. His son, who was killed after his father's trial in an unrelated incident, testified against his father and said the shooting was deliberate.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (August 14, 2002)

"Stay of Execution Issued for Fugate."

A temporary stay has been granted in the execution of Wallace Fugate, who was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. State Department of Corrections officials announced the stay about 6:20. The Georgia Supreme Court issued the stay, according to The Associated Press. The court said it wanted more time to consider Fugate's claim that the state Pardons and Paroles Board unfairly denied him clemency.

Fugate, 52, was sentenced to death for killing his ex-wife, Pattie, in Putnam County in 1991. He turned himself in immediately after his wife died of a gunshot wound. He contended the gun went off accidentally during a struggle between the couple, who had divorced after a 20-year marriage.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Judge refuses to delay Fugate; Execution set for 7 p.m. tonight," by Steve Visser.

A Fulton County Superior judge today refused to stop tonight's scheduled execution of a condemned man, who had argued that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles had not treated his request for clemency fairly. Wallace Fugate, 52, faces lethal injection for the 1991 shooting death of his ex-wife.

Fugate was denied clemency by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles in June, but a Superior Court judge in Fulton County granted a stay after his lawyers claimed the clemency hearing was unfair because one of the parole board's seats was then vacant. On Monday, the board again refused to commute his sentence to life imprisonment.

Fulton Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford ruled today that he was rejecting the idea that Fugate had his rights violated by the parole board during his clemency hearing. Fugate will appeal the decision today to the Georgia Supreme Court, said Sara Totonchi, public policy coordinator for the Southern Center for Human Rights, which is representing the condemned killer. "People are running around like crazy right now trying to get it out," she said of the appeal. The center hopes the high court will find enough merit in its clemency arguments to stop the execution until it can have a full hearing on the issue.

On Tuesday, Stephen Bright, director of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights,had argued that the Board of Pardon and Paroles had not given Fugate a fair hearing. Primarily Bright noted that one of the Board members Eugene Walker had revealed that he understood Fugate had kidnapped his wife on a previous occasion before the murder. Bright said the allegation was untrue but it destroyed the picture that had been created of Fugate as a hard-working carpenter who had never been convicted of a crime until he murdered Pattie Fugate. Bright argued that the board had an obligation to inform Fugate of the allegation before the clemency hearing so he could adequately rebut it. Bright also said Fugate's legal team should be allowed to investigate how the board members determined that Fugate should be denied clemency to ensure it had been a fair and not capricious process.

Associated Press (Aug. 14, 2002) "Judge Rejects Claim That Lethal Injection is Cruel."

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a condemned killer's claim that Georgia's procedure for lethal injection is cruel because the sequence of drugs allows prisoners to feel intense pain. Wallace Fugate is scheduled to die by injection Wednesday evening. He killed his wife, Pattie, in 1991.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper cleared the way for Fugate's execution by siding with state attorneys, who said Fugate's lawyers were merely trying to stop the execution by arguing meritless claims against the injection procedure. Fugate attorney Stephen Bright said the execution should be put on hold until Georgia uses better drugs for executions. Bright said prisoners are given a pain-numbing drug that lasts only 3 or four minutes, but it takes about 10 minutes for them to die from a separate drug that causes cardiac arrest. Bright argued that even if Fugate's death sentence is proper, the drug sequence is cruel. "He was not sentenced to excruciating pain. ... He was not sentenced to asphyxiation or experiencing massive heart attack," Bright told the judge.

State attorneys said the district court did not have jurisdiction in the matter and that Fugate's attorneys are merely trying to delay the execution. "No matter what kind of fancy language they use," the matter belongs in a different court, said Jayson Phillips, an assistant attorney general who argued the state's side. Cooper agreed without comment. Fugate's lawyers planned to appeal.

Fugate, 52, of Putnam County, was sentenced to die for the slaying of his wife during a struggle outside the family home. Fugate insisted the gun fired accidentally as he and his wife scuffled inside a van.

In Tuesday morning arguments, the judge appeared doubtful that Bright's claim was filed in the correct court or that it was anything but "forum shopping" for any chance to have the execution delayed. "Why did y'all wait until the 11th hour before bringing this?" Cooper asked. Bright said he only learned last week when Fugate was to be killed. Also, he said, Georgia has used lethal injection for only a few months, a fraction of the time Fugate was on death row.

In a state rebuttal, Phillips said there was plenty of time to raise issue with Georgia's method of execution. "Lethal injection has been on the books for several months," he said. Fugate's attorneys were also fighting for his life in Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday. Bright asked a judge to void a decision by the state Pardons and Paroles Board not to spare Fugate's life.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AP 08/02/02)

"State's High Court Lets Fugate Execution Proceed."

The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday rejected convicted killer Wallace Fugate's motion for a stay of his execution, now scheduled for Aug. 14. Fugate was within hours of a previous execution date in June when a Fulton County judge blocked it. The Supreme Court upheld the stay at that time but vacated the stay in a short announcement Thursday.

Fugate, 52, faces lethal injection for the 1991 shooting death of his ex-wife. He was denied clemency by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles in June, but a Superior Court judge in Fulton County granted a stay after his lawyers claimed the clemency hearing was unfair because one of the parole board's seats was then vacant.

At the time, two members had resigned amid an ethics probe and only one vacancy had been filled. The other vacancy since has been filled. The court's announcement said the Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider Fugate's case again on Aug. 12.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 23, 2002)

Death penalty unfair for indigent

Former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey was recently convicted of ordering the execution-style murder of his successor and rival, Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown. Dorsey will not be sentenced to death. DeKalb prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

But Wallace Fugate, convicted in 1991 of murdering his wife, was not so lucky. Too poor to hire his own lawyer, he was stuck with court- appointed lawyers who were either incompetent or disinterested. He was convicted in one of the shortest murder trials in Georgia history -- it lasted two days -- and sentenced to death. Fugate's attorneys raised no objections to any claims made by prosecutors during the trial. Even though the judge urged the defense to call ballistics experts, they used no experts to counter the version of his estranged wife's shooting that was presented by prosecutors.

Given the poor quality of justice meted out to Fugate, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles should commute his sentence to life in prison. His initial trial leaves enough unanswered questions for the state to be uncertain about putting Fugate, who had no prior record, to death. For example, Fugate's teenage son gave a written statement to police following the shooting in which he said he did not see his father shoot his mother. However, at trial, the son testified that he saw his father hold his mother's head back by her hair and shoot her. Fugate's appointed lawyers didn't bother to cross-examine the son about the conflicting stories. Nor did they bother to introduce the May 4, 1991, autopsy report on Pattie Fugate that concluded, "This is a distant gunshot wound."

Until Georgia reforms its indigent defense system, the poor will be largely stuck with inferior justice. Under those circumstances, the death penalty cannot be administered fairly.

"Parole Scandal Clouds Execution Stay." (July 14, 2002)

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles scheduled a new clemency hearing today for Wallace Fugate, who was granted a stay of execution after an ethics scandal led to the resignations of two board members. But Fugate's attorneys contend the board --- which asked the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn the stay --- has become adversarial to the Putnam County killer through its appeal of his stay.

As a result, the board should not conduct the hearing until the litigation is resolved and a new execution date set, said Stephen Bright, Fugate's attorney and director of the Southern Center for Human Rights. Last month, Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger ordered Fugate's execution stayed pending a clemency hearing before a full 5-member board. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld Goger's order. The board then asked the high court to reconsider.

But on Wednesday, the board said it was withdrawing its appeal and having a hearing with the new full board today --- a move Bright called "totally inappropriate." Fugate, 52, was convicted of fatally shooting his ex-wife in 1991. The board's Supreme Court appeal "was not an adversarial proceeding against Mr. Fugate, per se," said Tracy Masters, a parole board attorney. "It was an attempt to clarify whether the board could function in a death sentence arena as a four-member board because we didn't know how long it would be before we would be a 5-member board."

The board is working to repair the damage caused by the sudden resignation of 2 longtime members plagued by ethics questions. Fugate's lawyers also are asking the Supreme Court to rule on whether all five members of the board must vote on clemency issues. 3 votes are needed for clemency. "I think at a time when the board's credibility is at the lowest point ever, this is probably the worst thing they can do," Bright said.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 13, 2002)

"Spare Fugate, Paroles Board is Asked," by Bill Rankin.

Lawyers for condemned killer Wallace Fugate on Friday asked the state Board of Pardons and Paroles a second time to spare Fugate from execution by lethal injection. The board will issue its decision at a later date, spokesman Heather Hedrick said. Fugate was hours away from the death chamber last month after being denied clemency by the board, which at the time was short one member. A Fulton County judge granted Fugate a stay of execution, saying Fugate's petition should be heard by the full five-member board. Fugate, 52, was sentenced to death for killing his ex-wife, Pattie, in Putnam County in 1991.

Earlier this month, after Gov. Roy Barnes appointed Michael Light as the board's fifth member, the board scheduled Friday's clemency hearing. During the hearing, a number of Fugate's friends, former employers and co-workers asked the board to spare the condemned killer's life, Fugate's lawyer, Stephen Bright, said. Shelly Senterfitt, former director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, told the board there have been numerous cases more aggravated than Fugate's in which either prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty or jurors did not sentence the defendants to death.

Bright unsuccessfully argued before the appeals courts that Fugate's initial lawyers, who lodged no objections during the two-day trial, presented such a lackluster defense on Fugate's behalf that his death sentence should be overturned.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 21, 2002)

"Georgia Court Upholds Fugate Stay of Execution," by Rhonda Cook.

The Georgia Supreme Court today upheld the stay of execution of Wallace Fugate and said the justices would hear arguments in October on the issue of whether a parole board that is not fully constituted can consider a condemned person's final appeal. Fugate was scheduled to be executed Tuesday and the warrant for his lethal injection is in effect until noon next Tuesday. But unless the court hears arguments before then and rules, a new death warrant would have to be signed setting another execution date. The justices did not schedule a hearing.

Fugate won a stay just three hours before he was to die when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jack Goger ruled it was unconstitutional for a parole board short one member to act on his last plea for mercy. On June 13, a day before Fugate's lawyers were scheduled to meet with the board, two members resigned. Gov. Roy Barnes filled one of their seats, leaving the five-member clemency panel short. A second appointment is pending.

Fugate, 52, was condemned for killing his ex-wife outside her Putnam County home in 1991.

Atlanta Journal Constitution (June 18, 2002)

"Fugate Wins Stay of Execution."

Citing the "magnitude of the death penalty," a Fulton County judge Tuesday halted the execution of convicted killer Wallace Fugate less than three hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection. Superior Court Judge John J. Goger ordered Fugate's execution be delayed until Gov. Roy Barnes fills the fifth and final vacancy on the Board of Pardons and Paroles and until a full board considers Fugate's clemency petition.

The state Attorney General's Office appealed Goger's order to the Georgia Supreme Court. But the state high court declined to consider the case Tuesday evening. Goger noted that both the state Constitution and Georgia law state that the Board of Pardons and Paroles "shall consist of five members." And the judge said that the Georgia Constitution "unequivocally provides" that the "full board shall have an opportunity to hear the [clemency] application of the convicted person" sentenced to death. Goger also said he found significant the fact that the board has never considered a death penalty clemency petition without all five board members presiding. "Further," Goger added, "the opportunity to present a case for clemency is unique and firmly rooted in our criminal justice system. A fifth board member might be persuaded by the petitioner's case and may well be able to move others on the board to favorably consider a reprieve."

Weighing the state's interests vs. Fugate's also made the decision easier, Goger said. If he were to agree with the state, Fugate would be put to death, Goger noted, whereas the state will only be "inconvenienced temporarily" if he halts the execution until the board has all five members in place.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 19, 2002)

"Stay of Execution the Right Thing."

Fulton Superior Court Judge John Goger ruled wisely Tuesday to stay the execution of Wallace Fugate until the Board of Pardons and Paroles has a fifth member as required by the Georgia Constitution.

The case poses larger issues as well. Unlike the 29 individuals put to death by Georgia since 1976, Fugate has no prior criminal record and there were no aggravating circumstances of the sort normally required for imposition of the death penalty. Three of the 12 jurors in the case have stated in sworn affidavits that they would have voted for life without parole instead of the death penalty had they been given that option. Fugate, who turned himself in immediately after his wife died of a gunshot, still contends his gun went off accidentally during a struggle between the couple, who had divorced after a 20-year marriage. He had no record of prior domestic abuse. Prosecutors had to stretch to find the required "aggravating" factor, arguing that Fugate "kidnapped" his wife when he carried her from her house to a car in order to drive to the Putnam County sheriff's office for a mediation of their dispute.

It would be hard for the staunchest death penalty proponent to contend that Fugate's two-day trial, perhaps the shortest in state capital crime history, was fair. He couldn't afford to hire a lawyer and neither of the two lawyers appointed to represent him would meet even the minimum qualifications now required by the Georgia Supreme Court for death penalty lawyers. They conducted no investigation of the facts, hired no ballistic experts to counter those for the prosecution, and called only one of 35 suggested character witnesses at a 27-minute penalty hearing in which death was imposed. Eatonton friends and neighbors, never summoned to testify, say Fugate, a carpenter, worked hard and had a record of unselfish community service.

Unless Goger is overruled by the state supreme court, a full five-member parole board must reconsider the Fugate case. It should pay particular attention to the role played by the state's sorry system of indigent defense. In counties that provide well-trained lawyers for the poor, Fugate would most likely have received a life sentence. Gov. Roy Barnes, a lawyer, once acknowledged to graduating law students that in Georgia, "far too many people face the possibility of an unjust outcome because they must attempt to navigate an often complicated legal system without the benefit of competent counsel." Nowhere is that more important than in death-penalty cases. Barnes should appoint a panel to review the cases of every death row inmate whose lawyers would not meet today's standards of competency.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 18, 2002)

"Spare Life, But Concede Killer is No Victim," by Tina Trent.

An AJC editorial last week asserted that the courts of Georgia were dangerously remiss in upholding the death sentence of Wallace Fugate, who killed his ex-wife in 1991. "[T]here is ample evidence to suggest that Fugate shot his wife accidentally," the editorial said.

There is not. The murder committed by Wallace Fugate was particularly terror-drenched and brutal. Armed with a gun, Fugate broke into his ex-wife's home through a window and lay in wait for eight hours. When she entered the house, he attacked her. When she attempted to call the police, he pistol-whipped her, fired his gun to subdue her and continued beating her as he dragged her toward his van. There, he shot her in the head.

What part of this was accidental? Fugate maintains that the gun fired into his wife's head accidentally, possibly due to a manufacturing defect. He has filed several appeals on the grounds that his court-appointed attorneys failed to raise the subject of this alleged defect with the jurors at his trial.

Each of these appeals was rejected by the courts, yet on the grounds of this flimsy claim, Fugate has attracted the attention of anti-death-penalty activists searching for a story with media "legs." And the media, in this case, has complied all too well, publishing articles and editorials that trumpet Fugate's claims of insufficient legal representation without providing the public with any of the facts that the courts used to reject this complaint over and over again, let alone the facts that resulted in Fugate's conviction in the first place.

Forget the broken basement window, the gun barrel crashing down on Pattie Fugate's neck. Forget the 50 blows she received while being dragged from her living room to her ex-husband's van. Forget the finger that pulled the trigger enough, defect or no defect, to end her life.

The AJC's editors saw fit to report that Wallace Fugate had no prior criminal convictions, but they didn't mention the restraining order taken out against him because he threatened to kill Pattie Fugate "if he ever caught her alone." They described his involvement in community organizations but didn't tell how he disabled his son's rifle so the boy couldn't defend his mother. They described his fine carpentry skills but left out the part about him hammering his ex-wife's skull with a gun as she tried to dial 911. They made much of the existence of a discrepancy in his son's eyewitness testimony but avoided detailed description of the discrepancy itself -- whether the boy saw his father's hand grasping his mother's head an instant before or after the bullet tore through her skull.

Wallace Fugate is no victim, but he is being depicted as one. I imagine this is because the editors want to articulate their sincere opposition to the death penalty, but there is no excuse for presenting to the public a version of the facts and legal issues surrounding Pattie Fugate's murder that cannot be called accurate. Unfortunately, the legal endgame arising from the death penalty appeals process often leads to this type of skewing of the facts -- about the victim's suffering and the criminal's responsibility and malice.

By all means, Wallace Fugate's sentence should be commuted to life in prison; the state should not put prisoners to death. But death penalty opponents, including those on the AJC's editorial board, might actually find more public support for their position if they refrained from denying the criminal's culpability or the horror of the crime.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 18, 2002)

"Judge urges state to halt execution until board is filled," by Rhonda Cook.

A Fulton County judge urged state lawyers Monday to put off the execution of Wallace Fugate until every seat on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles is filled. Superior Court Judge John Goger had been asked to delay the execution, set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. Fugate was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of his ex-wife, Pattie Fugate, in Putnam County.

Fugate, 52, has exhausted his routine appeals. But his case was complicated last week when two members of the five-member parole board resigned. The governor immediately filled one of the positions, just 18 hours before the condemned man's lawyers were to meet with the board. The remaining opening gave the defense lawyers another issue to appeal. "This hasty way of going about this, with one member barely a member and [the seat of] one member vacant, is not the way to go about it," Stephen Bright, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights and Fugate's lawyer, told Goger. "In a lot of areas, we might be able to say, 'Close enough is good enough.' But not in a death penalty case."

The parole board has been at the center of controversy since last summer, when Attorney General Thurbert Baker announced that then-Chairman Walter Ray and then-member Bobby Whitworth were accused of lobbying for a change in state law that would benefit a private probation company that had paid them for consulting. Then, late last year, a board employee accused another board member, Gene Walker, of sexually harassing her. And two weeks ago, Walker and the attorney general were accused of conspiring to destroy a parole board document that showed that an aide to Baker had called on behalf of a cocaine trafficker.

On Thursday, Ray and Whitworth resigned, and Gov. Roy Barnes appointed GBI Director Milton E. Nix Jr. to Whitworth's seat. Barnes said he would fill the fifth seat on the board later. A special prosecutor was named to look into the corruption allegations. That chaos is one of the reasons Fugate's execution should be delayed, his attorneys argued. The parole board, Bright said, "is already at the center of a legal and political firestorm of corruption" that has now spread to the attorney general's office.

Bright had ask the parole board on Friday to issue a stay, for as long as 90 days, until the fifth seat is filled. The clemency panel said no late Monday, prompting Bright to seek Goger's intervention. "What the board did was legal," said Assistant Attorney General Jayson Phillips, who represented the board in the motion before Goger. "There may be a better way to do it, but a better way is not the legal standard." Goger told Bright and Phillips to try to resolve the issue without a court order.

"I'm very sympathetic to the notion that the petitioner [Fugate] get a hearing ... by a five-person board," he said. "I don't know what I'll do if you folks [the state's attorney] say, 'No, I think four is enough.' The [state] Constitution does say you need five people to constitute a board."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 14, 2002)

"Board delays decision on condemned killer," by Rhonda Cook.

After deliberating for about an hour Friday -- and less than a day after two of its members resigned suddenly amid a state ethics investigation -- the Board of Pardons and Paroles decided to delay a ruling on clemency for condemned killer Wallace Fugate. The board could announce a decision on Monday, spokeswoman Stephanie McConnell said. Fugate, 52, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the 1991 shooting death of his ex-wife.

The five-member board -- which still has one vacancy -- spent little more than an hour hearing the pleas of attorneys and relatives of Fugate before deciding to delay it's decision. McConnell said the board wanted to further consider an argument by Fugate's attorney, Stephen Bright, that any decision on Fugate's fate be put aside for at least 90 days so the parole board can recover from the shakeup.

Dogged by a state ethics investigation, parole board members Bobby Whitworth and Walter Ray resigned Thursday. Gov. Roy Barnes immediately appointed GBI Director Buddy Nix to fill one vacancy on the five-member board and said he will fill the other later. Nix will finish the remaining six months of Whitworth's term. But Barnes said it could be a while before he finds anyone to take the fifth seat on the clemency panel.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 13, 2002) "GEORGIA'S INDEGENT DEFENSE SYSTEM: Killer at Mercy of Incompetence."

On Tuesday, the state of Georgia is scheduled to execute Wallace Fugate, a 52-year-old carpenter, for killing his ex-wife. But there is ample evidence to suggest that Fugate shot his ex-wife accidentally. This is another case where a poor man probably ended up on death row because he had incompetent state-appointed lawyers. Though Fugate had no prior criminal record, his lawyers never bothered to investigate the facts of his case. They never retained any ballistics experts and never offered a single objection during trial to any prosecution argument.

Fugate's trial, held in Putnam County Superior Court in 1992, lasted only two days, among the shortest in the history of trials for capital offenses. And the hearing in which he was sentenced to death lasted 27 minutes, less than an average real estate closing. At the very least, the Board of Pardons and Paroles should commute Fugate's sentence to life in prison. His case proves that impoverished criminal defendants in Georgia -- especially in capital cases -- never recover from the shoddy legal representation they receive in their original criminal trials. The evidence that convicted Fugate included testimony by a teenage son, now deceased, that he saw his father shoot his mother. But, in his original statement to police, the son said he did not actually see the shooting. Fugate's lawyers never presented that discrepancy to the jury.

Fugate -- who served in the military and was active in community organizations in Eatonton, where he and his wife lived for more than 20 years -- consistently maintained he never meant to shoot his ex-wife (they were newly divorced at the time), that the gun went off accidentally. Indeed, the gun did have a design defect, later corrected by the manufacturer, which made it prone to inadvertent firing. But Fugate's lawyers never told the jury that, either. One of Fugate's court-appointed lawyers, Leo Browne, later admitted he had never heard of any of the death penalty opinions, which a competent defense lawyer would routinely cite in a vigorous defense of his client.

The Fugate case is another example of the arbitrariness of Georgia's death penalty, which disproportionately falls on poor defendants who are given incompetent or inexperienced counsel. Georgia, like Illinois and Maryland, ought to call a moratorium on executions until the indigent defense system is fixed. Meanwhile, the Board of Pardons and Paroles ought to use its authority to commute Fugate's sentence to life in prison.

Wallace Fugate's Homepage

This web page is dedicated to my brother, falsely accused of premeditated murder and was ironically murdered himself - REMEMBERED WITH LOVE -

falsely accused of premeditated murder and was ironically murdered himself Buck's death was supposed to have taken place at 8:00 pm As of 9:30 pm he was still waiting to die! BUT THEY COULDN'T EVEN GET THAT RIGHT! I'm not sure why the powers-that-be kept my brother under sedation and waiting all that extra time. ~ FINALLY THEY'VE KILLED BUCK ~ HE WAS MURDERED BY THE STATE OF GEORGIA on AUGUST 16, 2002 at 9:46 PM I talked to Buck at 7:20 pm and he said he was ready to die and to get it over with. HIS LAST WORDS TO ME WERE: "Everything will be okay sis, we knew it was just a matter of time. I know I'm going to heaven. I've been looking forward to being reunited with Pattie and Mark for a very long time. We will all finally be together again. Everything will be okay. Just tell everyone I love them and will be looking out for them."

NOTE AND THANK YOU FROM WALLACE :

To all my friends, family, and others who believed in me.

It was never my intent to cause the death of Pat as this was the woman I had loved for 20 years. I am so glad that Mark did not see his mother get shot. Pat’s death, on top of everything else that transpired that day, was more than enough for him to try and comprehend. Our son was going through enough turmoil from the divorce and hearing all the lies about me that Pat had told him I’m so glad he was not in the vicinity. (Page 601) I saw Mark when he came out of the house from talking to his Aunt Vickie at 5:29 pm. when Pat told him once again to shoot me. Mark left us and went up towards the garage/shop. I never knew where he went until he testified and stated he had gone up the hill and to the front of the garage, facing Blue Branch Drive, and was throwing objects into the driveway so I couldn’t leave. Less than 1 minute later, by 5:30 pm, the gun had accidentally gone off and Pat was dead. According to the telephone bill at 5:31 pm Mark called the Sheriff’s Department, but got a wrong number.

I have never blamed Mark for the outcome of my trial. With all the people telling him what he should and shouldn’t say, he had to have been really confused by the time he took the stand a year later. He couldn’t remember which part of the story he was supposed to tell, therefore, changed his story again for the 6th time. When you read his testimony you’ll see all the way through this testimony Prosecutor Joe Briley leads him. Time and again Briley would all but tell Mark what he wanted him to say. Briley had made the statement he could not even seek the death penalty without Mark’s testimony.

I realize Mark was old enough to be held accountable for his actions but you must also take into account all the circumstances and his emotional state. Prosecutor Joe Briley used him for his own selfish political greed and power, and that was not right! No matter what Mark did or said I had never, nor ever will stop loving him . . . my son was the love of my life and the reason for everything I ever did.

Pat’s death, and knowing I had played a part in it, was enough pain to bear. I did not realize it could be possible to be more devastated but found out it was upon hearing Mark had been murdered by two guys he hung around with. And then to hear Briley told the newspapers I had paid two million dollars to have Mark killed by these two guys! Briley stooped even lower by offering to drop drug charges on two jailhouse ‘snitches’ if they would get on the witness stand and state I told them I had put out a contract to have my son murdered. Even though it was proven I had nothing to do with the murder, I am still very bitter. The thought that some people would actually think I was so cruel that I would ever want any harm to come to my son hurts deeply.

I'm sure the outcome of my trial would have been totally different had my lawyers been given the documentations it has taken my present attorney's over eight years to finally obtain. And most likely my precious son would still be alive today! I regret the people responsible for Mark’s well being obviously thought it a higher priority to ‘make me pay’ for Pat’s death than it was to see he was given the help he so desperately needed to deal with all the trauma that had happened. But that is something they will have to deal with. And how my death could possibly give anyone relief is something I can not figure out. What kind of person could find relief from anyone's death?

At this time I realize that no matter what is said, and no matter what we can prove, it will do me no good. This additional evidence was not presented in the alloted and correct time frame, according to our judicial system and how it's laws read. This website, with all the information shown, will at least expose the truth of just what type of underhanded, conniving public servants Putnam County has in Mize, Cline, Bellury, Harper, Whidby and Mansfield. I would list Joe Briley and Sheriff Resseau too, but both have already been forced out of office.

I only hope those who read my story will see through the ‘deceptions’ and realize I am not the vicious person I have been made out to be. Never was I a threat to society, nor would I ever be a threat. If nothing else my death might in some way help change Georgia's laws. Maybe others won't be forced to accept these small-town attorneys who must do what they are told to do in order to keep their own jobs.

FOR ALL MY FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND OTHER PEOPLE STANDING BEHIND ME, GIVING ME THEIR ONGOING AND MUCH APPRECIATED SUPPORT... I WISH TO THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!! Your belief in me is the only thing that has kept me going for the past 11 years of this nightmare. It will also keep me going until the state of Georgia kills me.

"The state of Georgia murdered my brother tonight and call it justice. This time it was my loved one, next time it could just as easily be one of yours!" -Darnell Moonda Fugate-

Evidence proved the government's capital case against Buck rested on a foundation of official lies, the knowing use of false testimony, and the willful suppression of evidence in the state's possession that supported his claim of innocence on the charge of premeditated murder.

Three of the jurors who set on Buck's trial signed statements they would never have voted for his murder if all the available evidence had been given to them.

There are so many others with equally compelling evidence of official government misconduct who remain imprisoned, not only in Georgia, but every state in the country and on every Death Row!

FIGHT AGAINST THIS INJUSTICE! Buck had invited Georgia's Governor Barnes to attend his execution. You would have thought he, at least once, he would have stood up for his own convictions. This very same man expects us to keep him in office when he condones this kind of murder.

DID HE RECEIVE A FAIR TRIAL? YOU BE THE JUDGE . . . The stories, photos, transcripts, and statements you'll see and read in Buck's story are from the actual court records, which includes the presented, repressed, fabricated, and planted evidence. There are also altered crime scene photos, plus lots of information the jury and public were never told.

~ FIGHT FOR A CHANGE ~ GET THE CORRUPT OUT OF OFFICE Any governor's power to appoint his "Good Ole' Boys" to office should be taken away! Also let him know you are aware of how totally barbaric and unfair for the poor, our present state laws are.

TRIAL TRANSCRIPT AND EVIDENCE

Georgians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty

State of Georgia Executes Wallace Fugate

Wallace Fugate was killed by the state on August 16 at about 9:45pm. He received a last minute stay that lasted about one hour – he was scheduled to be executed at 8:00pm. Death penalty opponents gathered in Jackson, Augusta and Savannah Friday night and in nine locations Wednesday night for the previous scheduling of his execution, which was ultimately stayed. That stay of execution, issued by the Georgia Supreme Court, was lifted just after 5pm Friday, August 16.

Oddly enough, a rainbow appeared in the sky just after 7pm (before the short stay of execution), lightning struck at about the time of his execution and rain fell shortly after 10pm when he was dead. Shortly after after 6pm, Wednesday, August 14 the Georgia Supreme Court issued a stay of execution. Wallace Fugate was scheduled to be executed at 7pm on August 14, 2002.

Background
Vigil Schedule
News Clips
Press releases
Letter from Fugate to Governor

Background

Wallace Fugate was convicted of killing his wife and sentenced to death. Justice was not properly served through the legal process. Mr. Fugate's court-appointed laywers could not cite significant and well-known death penalty precedent-setting cases. They raised no objections and did no investigating. They failed to present information about the murder weapon being recalled by the manufacturers for its tendency to accidently fire -- highly significant given Fugate's long-stated claim that the fun went off accidentally. The sentencing phase lasted 27 minutes and the jury had no option of life without parole.

Wallace Fugate's case is indicative of some of the problems with Georgia's death penalty and larger criminal justice system. The quality of indigent defense is spotty at best -- a problem that is especially serious given the finality and severity of a death sentence. Had Mr. Fugate been able to afford decent legal defense, it is very possible that he would have never been put to death. Justice is not served when someone is represented by lawyers who display such blatant incompetence.

Letter to Gov. Barnes from Fugate

Wallace Fugate sent this registered letter to the governor inviting him to his execution.

August 8, 2002

Wallace M. Fugate
EF297821 G4-109
P.O. Box 3877 - Jackson, GA 30233

The Honorable Roy E. Barnes
State Capitol Building
Constituent Services Room 111
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

The Honorable Roy E. Barnes:

Since you are a staunch supporter of the Death Penalty I, Wallace Marvin Fugate III, better known as 'Buck', am extending a formal invitation for you to see it administered first hand. Therefore, on August 14, 2002 at 7:00 pm, you will be given the chance to watch my state-sanctioned murder.

Please consider this as a means to show the world you have the courage of your convictions and attend my execution. For the very first time you can witness the results of our state's decision and have the courage to look me in the eye in my dying moments knowing I am being sacrificed only because I was too poor to afford to hire decent lawyers and because I live in the middle of the 'Death Belt'.

You'll also be able to see the pain this execution puts upon my family and friends because of pathetic representation by two court-appointed lawyers who should never have been assigned a capital case.

I've always maintained my innocence of the premeditated murder charge and have the proof after all these years to show I have been telling the truth all along. Thanks to my sister's and my supporters' extensive work, information on my case is in the public eye and available online for the world to see: evidence, trial transcripts, evidence of misconduct of the police, GBI, and prosecutor. This website (www.wallacefugate.com) proves that most of the 'SO CALLED EVIDENCE' used at my trial was tampered with and/or proven false -- testimonies which were not even questioned by my inadequate court appointed counsel.

The Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CCADP) also maintains a site for me. The link to that site is found on my official website.

Even after my state sanctioned murder, these sites will be maintained and additional material and any evidence and investigations will continue to be added. The state judicial system will not be able to hide the evidence of their wrongdoing in my case and in others to come after me.

I am awaiting your response to my personal invitation to watch my lethal injection administered.

Respectfully yours, Wallace M. Fugate 'Buck'

Canadian Colition to Abolish the Death Penalty (Wallace Fugate Homepage)

Southern Center for Human Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- JUNE 11, 2002, 2:30 p.m.

GEORGIA SUPREME COURT ASKED TO HALT EXECUTION FOR MAN CONDEMNED TO DIE AFTER 27-MINUTE SENTENCING HEARING

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Today, attorneys for Wallace Fugate filed an Application for Certificate of Probable Cause to Appeal in the Georgia Supreme Court, stating that the "Court has the constitutional, legal and moral obligation to prevent an execution that would be wholly out of line with previous executions carried out in this state since 1976 and other cases in which death has been imposed since that time."

Fugate was convicted of a murder of his ex-wife, Pattie, in an extraordinarily brief trial that lasted only two days. Fugate, then 42, had no criminal record. He had worked as a carpenter and craftsman in Putnam County, building and repairing homes. The sentencing hearing – where the jury could have heard anything about Fugate’s life as a productive citizen – lasted only 27 minutes, less time than the average real estate closing.

"The death sentence was imposed in this case not because of what happened or the background of Mr. Fugate, but because of pathetic representation by two court-appointed lawyers who should have never been assigned a capital case," said Stephen Bright, Director of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights and one of Fugate’s attorneys. "The jury did not know what happened and it knew nothing about Mr. Fugate."

Since turning himself in the night of the tragedy, Fugate has steadfastly maintained that his gun discharged accidentally. However, his court-appointed lawyers did not present evidence that because of a design defect, the gun was susceptible to accidental firing. Nor did they inform the jury that the state’s only eyewitness, his son, who told the jury that he saw the shooting, had told law enforcement officers immediately after it that he had not seen it. In fact, the court-appointed lawyers did almost nothing. They refused, even when prompted by the judge, to ask for funds for an investigator or expert witnesses. They did not make a single objection during the entire trial.

Attorneys for Fugate argue that the death penalty is a grossly excessive punishment for a person with no prior criminal history whose behavior was in the heat of passion and perhaps accidental. The cases of the 29 people who have been executed by Georgia since 1973 have all been far more aggravated. Nor is there anyone under death sentence in Georgia at this time with no prior record and a similar crime. A person with no criminal record for 42 years who suddenly commits a murder of a ex-spouse is usually punished in Georgia by life imprisonment, not death.

Mr. Fugate's execution is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, 2002 at 7 p.m. He has been on Georgia's death row for over 10 years.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY

CLEMENCY HEARING- Mr. Fugate's Clemency Hearing is scheduled for Friday, June 14, at 10:00 a.m. at the Pardons and Parole Board office in the "Sloppy Floyd Building at 2 Martin Luther King Avenue in Atlanta. Although the press cannot be present during the hearing, attorneys and participants will be available for interview immediately following the hearing.

The following contains background information on Wallace Fugate, a death row inmate in Georgia who is scheduled to be executed on June 18, 2002.

1. Background and Introduction

Wallace Fugate, at age 42, was convicted at a trial that lasted just two days of the murder of his ex-wife in the course of an altercation. It was his first conviction ever. From the day he turned himself in to police through his testimony at trial, Mr. Fugate steadfastly maintained that the gun discharged accidentally. He was condemned to death after a penalty phase that lasted less than half an hour.

Fugate’s case demonstrates how arbitrarily the death penalty is imposed in Georgia. The death penalty is not imposed in many similar cases and even in many cases far more aggravated, such as those involving multiple victims.

It is also an example of the poor legal representation received by people who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers. The two lawyers appointed to represent Mr. Fugate filed just three pre-trial boilerplate motions; only one cited a case. When asked by the judge, the attorneys refused to seek funds for an investigator, any experts or any other purpose. They engaged in no plea negotiations. They did not object even once during the brief trial. They were ignorant of the law. One lawyer testified that he could not name any criminal law decision from any court with which he was familiar.

The case arose out of an altercation between Mr. and Mrs. Fugate on May 4, 1991, a few months after they had divorced. On that morning, Mr. Fugate’s car broke down near the house the family had shared during the marriage. Mr. Fugate knew that his son’s car had mechanical problems and he decided to go to the house to fix it. He testified that he did not expect his ex-wife, Pattie, or son, Mark, to return that day – a Saturday – because Pattie had told him they would be in South Carolina for the weekend, and had given him their hotel number. Telephone records confirmed that he called the number several times during the day.

However, to Wallace’s surprise, Pattie and Mark came home shortly before 5:30 p.m. Upon their arrival, an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Fugate quickly escalated into an altercation. During the struggle, a gun which Mr. Fugate had taken from his disabled car discharged twice. The first shot went into a floor in the house; the second resulted in the fatal wound. Mr. Fugate turned himself into the police shortly after the shooting, and gave a statement explaining that the gun discharged accidentally as he was trying to get Mrs. Fugate into her van so that they could go to the sheriff’s office.

2. Facts the jury never heard

The issue at the guilt phase was whether the shooting was accidental or intentional. Wallace Fugate testified at trial, as he had maintained since turning himself in, that the gun discharged accidentally. The prosecution called a weapons expert who testified that the gun had to be cocked or a great deal of pressure had to be exerted on the trigger in order to fire it. The jury was not informed that the gun had a design defect that made it prone to inadvertent cocking and accidental firing because the court-appointed lawyers did not consult with an expert on firearms, and were unaware of the susceptibility of the gun to accidental discharge.

The only eyewitness to the shooting, Mark Fugate – Wallace and Pattie’s only son – told the police immediately after the shooting in a statement reduced to writing that he did not see the manner in which his mother was shot. At trial, however, Mark Fugate testified that he saw his father hold his mother by the hair, pull her head back, and shoot her. The lawyers appointed to defend Mr. Fugate failed to impeach Mark with his prior written statement in which he said he did not see the shooting.

The lawyers also failed to contest other critical aspects of the prosecution’s case. The state’s medical examiner recorded in the autopsy report "a distant gunshot wound" – consistent with Mr. Fugate’s statement and contrary to the verison of events given by Mark at trial. However, at trial, the medical examiner testified at trial that the barrel of the gun could have been close to Mrs. Fugate’s head when it was fired. The defense lawyers failed to bring out that the medical examiner had twice written in the autopsy report that the gunshot was "distant."

Expert assistance was not sought simply because the court-appointed lawyers never considered seeking it. Indeed, one of the lawyers testified that in his over forty years of practice, he had never used an investigator, and could not specifically recall ever having an expert witness. In the absence of any adversarial testing of the prosecution’s case, the jury found Mr. Fugate guilty.

The court-appointed lawyers did no better at the penalty phase. Despite the tragic loss of life, nothing about the death of Mrs. Fugate in an emotional argument with her former husband, who had no criminal record in his 42 years, distinguishes this case as one that was appropriate for the death penalty based on the circumstances of the offense or the offender. Wallace Fugate had a long history of community service, military service, and gainful employment. His neighbors considered him an exceptionally decent man because of the help he had provided on numerous occasions. He was married to Pattie Fugate for almost his entire adult life and was devastated when their marriage ended.

However, the jury did not receive this evidence about the life and background of Mr. Fugate because his court-appointed lawyers waited until the month of trial to even begin to look for mitigating evidence. Although Mr. Fugate provided the lawyers with a list of 35 potential mitigation witnesses, the lawyers did not contact many of the people on it. One lawyer said that they divided the list between them, but the other lawyer said he did nothing to prepare for the penalty phase. Only one individual of the 35 listed was called as a witness, but he, like two other witnesses, was asked only to give his opinion on Mr. Fugate’s character and propensity for violence and the sentence he should receive. One witness testified only that Mr. Fugate had a "rather well character," and another testified only that Mr. Fugate was "mighty quiet" and "a mighty hard worker." The lawyers called Mr. Fugate’s mother, eliciting her conclusions that Mr. Fugate had been a good, non-violent child, had always been employed, and was a good father. The lawyers presented no information in any depth to the jury. After this sad example of how not to try the penalty phase of a capital case, the jury sentenced Mr. Fugate to death.

3. The sentence is excessive

The death penalty is supposedly reserved for the worst crimes committed by the most incorrigible criminals – people who repeatedly commit crimes, including murder; those who kill more than one person; those who kill and rape or torture their victims; and people who kill police officers or children. Georgia has put to death 29 people under its current death penalty law which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1976. Seven of those executed committed more than one murder, and five others had killed other people in separate incidents. Twelve had committed murder as part of a robbery of a stranger for money; one robbed a person he knew for money; one committed murder to collect insurance. Six raped or sexually assaulted their victims before killing them. Five killed a child. At least three engaged in prolonged torture before killing their victims. Two killed police officers.

Wallace Fugate’s case is not such a case. Had the jury been fully informed, it would have found that the death in this case was an accident, not intentional. But even assuming that the death was not an accident, this case is not one for which Georgia juries usually impose the death penalty. A person with no criminal record for 42 years who suddenly commits a murder of a ex-spouse is punished in Georgia by life imprisonment, not death.

The death sentence imposed in this case is an aberration. It can be explained not by the facts of the crime or the criminal history of the offender, but by the poor legal representation that Wallace Fugate received.

This case involves a tragic loss of life. But it did not involve multiple murders; it was not to obtain money; there was no torture or murder of a child. This case involves a man who had been married to the victim for 20 years, who was 42 years old at the time, who had no prior criminal convictions, and who has maintained all along – with corroboration from an expert at state habeas proceedings that the gun had a manufacturing defect – that the shooting was accidental. The ultimate punishment, death, is reserved for the worst offenders who commit the most heinous crimes. Wallace Fugate is not such an offender and his crime is not one those so heinous that it is usually punished by death.

Georgia Department of Corrections

NEWS RELEASE - June 18, 2002 - Execution Date Set for Putnam County Murderer Jackson

Condemned murderer Wallace Marvin Fugate, III is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18, 2002, at the Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia. Fugate has requested a last meal of steak, lobster, baked potato, apple pie, ice cream and milk. Media witnesses for the execution are Mitch Stacy, Associated Press; Rhonda Cook, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Austin Rhodes, WGAC-AM Radio - Augusta; Cheryl Mitchell, The Union Recorder - Milledgeville; and Thanh Truong, WMAZ TV - Macon. There have been 29 men executed in Georgia - 23 by electrocution and six by lethal injection -- since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. The Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison is located 45 minutes south of Atlanta off Interstate 75. Coming from Atlanta, take exit 201 (Ga. Hwy. 36), turn left over the bridge and go approximately ¼ mile. The entrance to the prison is on the left. Media covering the execution will be allowed into the prison's media staging area beginning at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday.