Death penalty advocate studies Holton execution

A documentary regarding the execution of convicted murderer Daryl Holton is being filmed in Shelbyville this week with a New York School of Law professor who is a death penalty advocate.

"The thing about the Holton case is that most Americans worry about the death penalty is that an innocent person might be executed," writer-director Ted Schillinger said between shots at the Shelbyville Times-Gazette newsroom on Monday. "In the Holton case, the offender is absolutely guilty of a truly heinous crime."

Robert Blecker, a professor of law, is the subject of the documentary. While he's examined other cases, Holton's is most closely examined in the documentary.

The program is to be 90-100 minutes long, Schillinger said. It's produced by Atlas Media Corp. The Manhattan, N.Y., based business has produced non-fiction for the History Channel, National Geographic's cable channel and most recently started a theatrical documentary division.

The program on Blecker with Holton is the second by the division. The film will be first released to film festivals next year and will eventually be available on DVD.

Blecker had a two-hour visit scheduled with Holton on Sunday morning. Guards allowed it to last four hours. It was one of several visits. A previous visit was also few days before Holton was scheduled to die on a previously set date.

"He's told me I've helped him through tough times," Blecker said. At the time of the visit, Holton hadn't said he wanted to die, according to Blecker.

"He just doesn't want to interfere with the law," the professor said.

Expected demonstrators at the maximum security prison for the execution were to be part of the documentary that has no title yet. The working name is The Robert Blecker Documentary, but Schillinger anticipates something else will be selected.

Holton has "contempt" for defense attorneys who raised "frivolous" points while trying to save his life, Blecker said.

"He is in favor of the death penalty," said Blecker, explaining Holton resented petitions in his name when he never agreed to them.

Most arguments have focused on mental health issues, claiming it's wrong to execute someone who may have committed their crime without being in their right mind.

Tennessee's legal test on whether an inmate is "competent" for execution is whether they know what's to happen and why. It does not require a conclusion on mental health.

That aspect of the Holton case has been raised with the writer-director who provided the larger view of the death penalty issue for Americans.

Schilinger said since Holton confessed and has no objections to his trial, "That forces us to ask the question: Is the death penalty justified when someone is unquestionably guilty? It's what makes the Holton case such a great test case. It removes the measure of doubt of making a mistake and then forces the question about the appropriateness of the penalty itself."