The teen death row inmate who was executed twice

The teen death row inmate who was executed twice

Willie Francis was executed—twice—for the alleged murder of 53-year-old pharmacist Andrew Thomas in St. Martinville, Louisiana in 1944. Thomas was found shot five times at close range just outside of his home. In May 3, 1946, the portable electric chair dubbed "Gruesome Gertie" was improperly readied for use, as the men in charge of setting it up, Captain Ephie Foster and an inmate who was also an electrician, Vincent Venezia, were drunk at the time. When the switch was flipped to kill Francis, he simply started jerking around violently in the chair. When it was clear he wasn't going to die, officials removed him and took him for examination by the witnessing coroner. It was at this point Captain Foster, yelled at him, “I missed you this time, but I'll get you next week if I have to use an iron bar!” After the botched execution, a young lawyer, Bertrand DeBlanc, decided to take Francis' case, as he felt it was unjust. He and his team failed—Willie Francis was returned to the electric chair on May 9, 1947. A couple of days before the execution, he said he was going to meet the Lord with his "Sunday pants and Sunday heart." Willie Francis (January 12, 1929 – May 9, 1947) was an African American teenager known for surviving a failed execution by electrocution in the United States. He was a convicted juvenile sentenced to death at age 16 by the state of Louisiana in 1945 for the murder of Andrew Thomas, a Cajun pharmacy owner in St. Martinville who had once employed him. He was 17 when he survived the first attempt to execute him, as the chair malfunctioned. After an appeal of his case taken to the Supreme Court of the United States failed, he was executed in 1947 at age 18. On May 3, 1946, Francis survived an attempt at execution by the electric chair. Witnesses reported hearing the teenager scream from behind the leather hood, "Take it off! Take it off! Let me breathe!" as the supposedly lethal surge of electricity was being applied. The portable electric chair, known as "Gruesome Gertie", was found to have been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The sheriff, E.L. Resweber, was later quoted as saying: "This boy really got a shock when they turned that machine on." After the botched execution, attorney Bertrand DeBlanc decided to take Francis' case. He felt it was unjust, and cruel and unusual punishment, as prohibited in the Constitution, to subject him again to the execution process. DeBlanc had been best friends with Thomas and his decision was greeted with dismay by the citizens in the small Cajun town. DeBlanc took Francis' case to the Supreme Court in Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459 (1947), citing various violations of his Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. These included violations of equal protection, double jeopardy, and cruel and unusual punishment. The US Supreme Court rejected the appeal. DeBlanc then began attempting to have Francis' murder conviction overturned citing new evidence and deep flaws in Francis' trial. Francis, however, did not want a second trial and persuaded DeBlanc to desist shortly before his next scheduled execution. Subsequently, Willie Francis was returned to the electric chair on May 9, 1947. He told reporter Elliott Chaze a couple of days prior to the execution that he was going to meet the Lord with his "Sunday pants and Sunday heart." He was pronounced dead in the chair at 12:10 p.m. (Central Time) On May 3, 1946, Francis survived an attempt at execution by the electric chair. Witnesses reported hearing the teenager scream from behind the leather hood, "Take it off! Take it off! Let me breathe!" as the supposedly lethal surge of electricity was being applied. The portable electric chair, known as "Gruesome Gertie", was found to have been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The sheriff, E.L. Resweber, was later quoted as saying: "This boy really got a shock when they turned that machine on." After the botched execution, attorney Bertrand DeBlanc decided to take Francis' case. He felt it was unjust, and cruel and unusual punishment, as prohibited in the Constitution, to subject him again to the execution process. DeBlanc had been best friends with Thomas and his decision was greeted with dismay by the citizens in the small Cajun town. DeBlanc took Francis' case to the Supreme Court in Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459 (1947), citing various violations of his Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. These included violations of equal protection, double jeopardy, and cruel and unusual punishment. The US Supreme Court rejected the appeal. DeBlanc then began attempting to have Francis' murder conviction overturned citing new evidence and deep flaws in Francis' trial. Francis, however, did not want a second trial and persuaded DeBlanc to desist shortly before his next scheduled execution. Subsequently, Willie Francis was returned to the electric chair on May 9, 1947. He told reporter Elliott Chaze a couple of days prior to the execution that he was going to meet the Lord with his "Sunday pants and Sunday heart." He was pronounced dead in the chair at 12:10 p.m. (Central Time)

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