Death row inmate says ruling ignites hope

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By JOE DUGGAN / Lincoln Journal Star

TECUMSEH — Raymond Mata Jr. learned early Friday he won a landmark appeal.

By 8:30 a.m., Mata had shared the news with the men who live with him on death row at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.

The Nebraska Supreme Court had ruled the electric chair unconstitutional.

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John Lotter

John Lotter

The inmates, in their tan prison garb, spoke to each other in the law library and through metal doors that divide the unit, trying to sort out what the ruling meant.

No one whooped or hollered and no one slapped a high-five, said John Lotter, a 36-year-old death row inmate who gave an interview Friday to the Journal Star.

“I don’t think anybody was really excited,” he said. “You’ve got to be somewhat happy about it, but until we know the whole scope ...”

Every death row inmate has gotten his hopes up before. Past challenges promised to take them off the long road toward execution, but here they remain.

Lotter began the journey nearly 13 years ago after his conviction for the Dec. 31, 1993,   murders of three people in a Humboldt farmhouse. The people who died that night were Teena Brandon, 21, of Lincoln, Lisa Lambert, 24, of Humboldt, and Phillip DeVine, 22, of Fairfield, Iowa.

Unlike some of the other death row inmates, Lotter has maintained his innocence.

Later Friday, he and the others spoke to their lawyers. Lotter said he expects the ruling to play a role in his post-conviction appeal, but he declined to offer specifics.

“My personal belief is it should mean life sentences,” he said.

Lotter argued that when he was sentenced to death, the only method available to carry out the sentence was the chair. The state’s high court says the chair is no longer an option.

He applied the same rationale to the nine other men with death sentences. Perhaps this ruling will spare their lives. He hopes so.

It’s like a brotherhood. Although they all have separate cells, they talk to each other. They interact with no other prisoners. They can’t help but develop bonds.

“I don’t look at it as my job to be judge and jury of anybody,” Lotter said.

So now they’ll wait.

Lotter said he will get a hard copy of the ruling from his lawyers. He may even be able to read it sooner when it’s put on a legal computer network the inmates can access.

And they’ll watch closely as lawmakers grapple with Sen. Ernie Chambers’ final attempt to abolish the death penalty.  They respect Chambers and the other lawmakers who’ve stood with him in opposition to capital punishment, Lotter said.

If that fails, they’ll wait to see if the Legislature institutes another method of execution. They all wonder what that would mean to their cases.

Lotter said he knows Friday’s ruling wasn’t well-received everywhere. He knows for some, it was a bitter decision that leaves them frustrated and angry.

“I couldn’t even begin to put myself in their shoes,” he said. “But people need to understand we appeal because it’s part of the process.”

And if the state no longer tried to exact the ultimate penalty, the process wouldn’t drag out nearly as long, he said.

As he waits, Lotter will hope he and his lawyers can prove his innocence. He recently mailed letters to Susan Sarandon and Elton John, asking for money so he can hire a private investigator to reopen his case.

And Friday night he planned to call his mother and sister to talk to them about the day’s events.

What would he say?

“It’s a step.”

Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.