As execution date nears, Nez asks for leniency
WINDOW ROCK
In less than two weeks, Lezmond Mitchell, a Navajo convicted in 2003 for the brutal killings of Alyce Slim and her nine-year-old granddaughter, is scheduled for execution at a high-security federal prison, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Even with a letter from President Jonathan Nez, dated July 31, to President Donald Trump, asking for leniency, as of press time, there is no indication Mitchell’s scheduled Aug. 26 execution date will be changed or commuted.
The letter to Trump stated the Navajo Nation had a “long-standing position” that opposed capital punishment, which went against the tribe’s traditional and religious beliefs. It also stated the tribe, under the Federal Death Penalty Act, never “opted-in” to give federal prosecutors permission to seek the death penalty. “The United States’ decision to seek the death penalty against Mr. Mitchell ignored the intent of the tribal opt-in provisions of the Federal Death Penalty Act,” the letter said.
The FDPA gives tribes a choice to decide if a tribal member should be sentenced to death. According to a proposed resolution by Navajo Nation Council Delegate Carl Slater that reaffirms the tribe’s opposition of capital punishment, only the Sac and Fox Nation has “opted-in” to the federal death penalty. The FDPA, enacted in 1994, established constitutional measures that would impose the death penalty for 60 offenses, which includes carjacking resulting in death.
The carjacking statute was amended to include the death penalty if the taking of a vehicle resulted in the death of the victim. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, on Oct. 28, 2001, Mitchell and Johnny Orsinger, 16 at the time, were hitchhiking when they caught a ride with Slim and her granddaughter, who were driving from Tohatchi to Sawmill, later killing both.
On Nov. 4, 2001, Mitchell was arrested and waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the murders. Mitchell was tried by then U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, who sought the death penalty under the Federal Death Penalty Act. A jury convicted Mitchell in 2003 on numerous federal crimes, including first-degree murder, felony murder, and carjacking resulting in death. He was sentenced to death.
Nez’s letter to Trump said the tribe never gave the federal government permission to seek the death penalty under the Major Crimes Act, “such as murder.”
The MCA is a federal law that prosecutes Native American offenders who’ve committed a major crime against a Native American victim on a reservation. “Carjacking resulting in death is a non-Major Crimes Act crime, but which carries the death penalty sentence,” the letter said.
According to Slater, when federal prosecutors sidestepped the MCA, it contradicted their obligation when it broke its commitment to tribes. “The federal government has almost always, since 1868, respected the right of the nation to administer justice issues that are between our citizens that occur on our land,” he said. “That is exactly what occurred in this case.
“The federal government also asserted jurisdiction for certain crimes and criminal matters that occur on the Navajo Nation,” he said. “When that takes place, it is the responsibility of the nation to express what the contents of our judicial system are.”
Slater said the Navajo Nation Council held a series of public meetings in 2004 and produced a report on capital punishment. The report said the death penalty was not consistent with the tribe’s traditional forms of justice, he added.
“Whether you’re speaking from a traditional standpoint, there were folks who spoke out against capital punishment, affirming that life is sacred and that it is not human governments to decide that sort of fate,” he said. “There are alternative punishments that can be pursued instead.”
One of the persons who spoke was Marlene Slim, whose daughter and mother were murdered by Mitchell. According to the Council’s Public Safety Committee report, Marlene Slim told the committee she opposed the death penalty because if the tribe opted-in, it “would diminish the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation.”
“Her request to the federal prosecutor to have the murderer of her mother and her daughter serve life without parole was ignored and dishonored,” the 2004 committee report stated.
President Joe Shirley Jr. told the Associated Press in 2003 he supported the death penalty. “Criminals who commit depraved and heinous murders don’t deserve to be among society,” Shirley told the AP.
President Russell Begaye also stated he supported the death penalty when speaking of the brutal killing of Ashlynne Mike, 11, who was raped and murdered in 2016. Her killer, Tom Begaye Jr., was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Slater said he introduced legislation at the Naabik’íyáti’ Committee meeting on Wednesday to reaffirm the tribe’s opposition of the death penalty and the sentenced imposed on Mitchell. “The Diné of the Navajo Nation believe in iina, life, is sacred, must be protected, and must be cultivated to fulfill the purpose of each life form according to the Diné bee behazaanii,” Slater’s legislation said.
“Understanding this sacred principle expounded upon the Diné haataa?iis, practitioners, and other spiritual leaders, the Navajo Nation opposes capital punishment in all forms,” it said.
Nez’s letter to Trump said a life imprisonment for Mitchell was “appropriate.” “Mr. President, for these reasons, we believe a grant of executive clemency with a commutation of the death penalty sentence, replaced with life imprisonment, for Lezmond Mitchell, is appropriate to begin to restore harmony and balance to the affected families and to the inherent sovereignty of the Navajo Nation,” the letter said.
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