CLEMENCY: Georgia Board Commutes Death Sentence of ​‘Model Prisoner’

On April 20, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles reduced the death sentence of Daniel Greene (pictured) to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Board had stayed Greene’s execution, which was set for April 19, in order to further consider his clemency petition. Greene’s petition included letters from several members of the Taylor County community, where the murder occurred, urging the Board to spare Greene’s life. Among the letters was one from a former correctional officer, Randy Foster, who called Greene “as fine a man as I have ever met in my life,” and said, “He is not like anyone else on death row. Daniel Greene is the type of person you want for an inmate. He has never given me (or anyone else as far as I know) even the hint of a problem.” In his own letter to the Board, Greene apologized for the pain he caused the victim’s family and said, “I was on drugs at the time, but I took the drugs with my hands, and I take the responsibility. That choice to do drugs and what I did after were the worst mistakes of my life. I do not blame the drugs. I blame myself for everything.” This was the second clemency granted nationally in 2012 and the eighth granted in Georgia since 1976.

(G. Bluestein, “Petition outlines Taylor County killer Daniel Greene’s clemency appeal,” Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, April 18, 2012; G. Bluestein, “Pardons board grants clemency to condemned Ga. man,” Savannah Morning News, April 20, 2012.) See Clemency; listen to DPIC’s Clemency Podcast.