Former Gov. Kernan commutes
death sentence before leaving office

By Mary Ann Wyand

As one of his last official gubernatorial actions on Jan. 7, outgoing Gov. Joseph Kernan commuted the death sentence of Indiana Death Row inmate Michael W. Daniels to life in prison without parole.

Daniels had been sentenced to death for the Jan. 16, 1978, murder of Rev. Allan Streett during a robbery with accomplices Don C. Cox and Kevin Edmonds as the Protestant chaplain at Fort Benjamin Harrison shoveled snow from his driveway in Indianapolis.

This was the second time that Gov. Kernan spared the life of a condemned killer. He is the only Indiana governor to commute a death sentence in four decades.

The governor said he decided to reduce the capital sentence to life in prison without parole because Daniels was 19 at the time of the crime, suffers from a mental illness, has a low IQ, received inadequate legal representation, and there were doubts about who shot Rev. Streett when the men robbed him of a dollar.

Gov. Kernan also noted that both Cox and Edmonds are no longer in prison.

Daniels, who is incarcerated at the state’s Maximum Control Facility in Westville, Ind., has been diagnosed as psychotic with a very low IQ and is unable to assist in his own defense. He has spent 25 years in prison.

In his decision, Gov. Kernan said “evidence casting doubt on Daniels’ role in these crimes was never presented to the jury and cannot now be considered by the judicial system. Clemency is appropriate in this case both to correct an error the courts have identified and to maintain confidence in the judicial system.”

The governor said he has “now encountered two cases where doubt about an offender’s personal responsibility and the quality of the legal process leading to the capital sentence has led me to grant clemency. These instances should cause us to take a hard look at how Indiana administers and reviews capital sentences.”

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, general chairman of the Indiana Catholic Conference, said on Jan. 10 that he was pleased to learn that Gov. Kernan, during his last week in office, granted clemency for Daniels.

“As Catholics, we must oppose the death penalty because the circumstances of our day do not warrant it,” Archbishop Buechlein said in a written statement. “Pope John Paul II has often expressed his concern that society can be protected without taking the life of individuals, thereby giving them the chance to repent and seek reconciliation with God.”

The archbishop emphasized that God is merciful and seeks out those who are lost.

“We believe the state should not exercise its right to impose the death penalty if the evil effects outweigh the good,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “In recent times, the death penalty does more harm than good because it feeds a frenzy for revenge” and “there is no demonstrable proof that capital punishment deters violence.”

The archbishop said he “applauds Gov. Kernan’s decision to commute two capital sentences while in office. In his latest decision, [the governor] wrote that he hopes in the coming months all three branches of state government can come together again to determine whether Indiana’s capital sentencing system is fair enough. We hope that the new governor [Mitch Daniels], legislative leaders and judges agree.”

Streett’s son, Tim, witnessed the shooting but was 15 years old at the time and gave conflicting statements to authorities. He had previously identified two other suspects in the murder. Under hypnosis, he said Daniels was the man who shot his father.

Tim Streett said he has forgiven Daniels, Cox and Edmonds for their part in the robbery and murder of his father, and he supported the governor’s decision to commute Daniels’ death sentence to life without parole. Streett also had successfully lobbied for Cox to be released from prison early.†