The bizarre twists & turns in the Michael Ross capital-punishment case have become positively Byzantine in both their Intricacy & their Weirdness.

No sooner did the United States Supreme Court predictably clear away, we thought, the Last Barrier to the 20-years-in-waiting Execution of the sexual-sadism-afflicted serial rapist/murderer who claims he Wants to Die, than the Federal judge whose prior Stay was thus vacated — in effect Reinstated it via a transcribed & published Conference Call in which Hizzoner bludgeoned Ross’s chosen lawyer for Ill-informedly advocating his client’s right to die .

That call transcript , especially, is my Recommended Reading for all Law students who may frequent This Here Blog. To me anyway, it is utterly Astounding — and, Important. Da Judge, being convinced that the “please kill me” Perp is Nuts, is bloody beDamned if he’s going to let him die — and, being Overturned, he is now putting the Onus on Ross’s client-compliant Lawyer (TOO compliant, sez da Judge), to Prevent it. / Read the whole Call, O thou soon-to-be-Officers-of-the-Court. Amazing.

Here excerpted is the News Story. (The conference-call transcript is not susceptible to summary Excerption.)

Lawyer Calls Off Execution
January 29, 2005
By LYNNE TUOHY, ALAINE GRIFFIN, JEFFREY B. COHEN, And MATTHEW KAUFFMAN Courant Staff Writers

SOMERS — In a stunning turnaround of events and attitudes, serial killer Michael Ross’ lawyer T.R. Paulding called off today’s scheduled execution of Ross barely an hour before it was to take place.

Paulding, who has represented Ross since September, cited a “potential conflict of interest” in his continued representation. Correction officials rescheduled the execution for 9 p.m. Monday, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he was braced for a weekend filled with legal action.

While he did not explain his abrupt action, it is almost certain it stems from a bizarre telephone conference call he had Friday afternoon with Chief U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny and lawyers who had sought to halt the execution.

Chatigny sharply questioned Paulding’s representation and even threatened to go after Paulding’s law license if Ross died and further investigation showed Ross had suffered abusive death row living conditions that led to despair and his decision to choose death over life.

…That his private lawyer had been pressured by a federal judge nine hours earlier to persuade Ross to change his mind added an element of suspense that was not there when Friday dawned…

…Families of the victims had little time to prepare, the tension for them cutting an even deeper well of grief. Their minds were on the loved ones they lost - kidnapped, killed, most of them raped - two decades ago.

Robin Stavinsky, 19. Wendy Baribeault, 17. Leslie Shelley, 14. April Brunais, 14.

Those are the four for whom Ross received death sentences, most recently in May 2000. He has admitted to killing four other women - two in New York and two in Connecticut.

“What you are doing is terribly, terribly wrong,” [Judge] Chatigny told [Attorney] Paulding. “No matter how well motivated you are, you have a client whose competence is in serious doubt and you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Again: read the whole transcript. And, the Story.