Indiana Governor Won't Stay Execution (for liver donation) (AP)

[stumbler]

INDIANAPOLIS May 24, 2005 — Gov. Mitch Daniels rejected the request of a convicted murderer for a reprieve of his execution so he could donate part of his liver to an ailing sister.

The decision was announced about 12 hours before Gregory Scott Johnson, 40, is scheduled to die by lethal injection early Wednesday at the Indiana State Prison. The Supreme Court on Tuesday also denied a stay of execution.

Daniels said he found “no grounds to second guess years of court rulings or to reject the recommendation of the parole board.”

The board recommended on Friday that Daniels deny clemency or a reprieve, saying Johnson was guilty of the beating death of 82-year-old Ruby Hutslar and should be put to death as scheduled.

Daniels said he accepted the sincerity of Johnson’s motivation in trying to donate part of his liver, but said medical experts had advised against it, saying Johnson’s sister would be better served by accepting a new organ through the conventional process.

Johnson’s 48-year-old sister suffers from nonalcoholic cirrhosis. . . .

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[klbarrett]

stumbler:

Daniels said he accepted the sincerity of Johnson’s motivation in trying to donate part of his liver, but said medical experts had advised against it, saying Johnson’s sister would be better served by accepting a new organ through the conventional process.

Johnson’s 48-year-old sister suffers from nonalcoholic cirrhosis. . . .

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You left out the most important part of the quote:“The governor’s office released a letter Daniels received from two transplant doctors who said the presence of a hepatitis B antibody in Johnson’s system and his heavy body weight made him unsuitable as a donor.” When I first heard this story, I thought, “wow, he wants to donate his liver and they won’t let him.” Seemed kinda’ cruel. But having the Hep. B antibody certainly changes everything. Not one of the commentators on TV that I heard reading this story mentioned that fact, which changes everything. This man, while he may really want to help his sister (and maybe not…I am a cynic), is not a good donor. That needs to be stated. They didn’t just say, “Nope, you can’t” - they looked at his request and rejected it on sound grounds.