The Record

Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: News

Willie Francis counts down the days to his execution.

The discomfort caused by a thermostat set much too high created an oddly appropriate backdrop for students attending the American Constitution Society's Thursday, November 9, screening of director Allen Durand's documentary, "Willie Francis Must Die Again." The intimate atmosphere allowed attendees to share a close moment with the director in way not possible in a more formal setting.

Raised in St. Martinville, a French Catholic town in southern Cajun Louisiana, Durand produced and directed the film, which centers on his town's most famous execution. Or perhaps more properly put, executions. Actor Danny Glover narrated the unique and haunting story of young Willie Francis, who survived the electric chair to which he was sentenced in 1946, before being strapped in again and succumbing to it in 1947.

Shot mostly as a combination of black and white stills and first person interviews, with music evocative of the time and the region, the film recounts the initial crime, the trial, the first botched execution, an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and the eventual successful execution.

Sister Helen Prejean, best known for her book Dead Man Walking, speaks throughout the film, offering her own insight on the death penalty and certain failings of the United States adversarial system.

"We play God," Prejean said. "We go behind closed doors and decide if a fellow human being lives or dies."

Durand utilized quotes from renowned philosophers to emphasize the cruel nature of the ordeal and its consequences. Sir Roger L'Estrange is quoted as saying, "The greatest of all injustice is that which goes under the name of law."

One night in 1945, St. Martinville pharmacist, Andrew Thomas, was murdered in his bed, and when the police failed to make an arrest or even find real leads, sixteen year-old Francis was charged with the crime. After arresting Francis on unrelated and false drug charges, the police claimed to extract from him a confession in the Thomas murder. This confession constituted the bulk of the prosecution's case in a trial that lasted just over a day.

Francis' defense was anything but effective. Over the course of the short trial, his court-appointed defense attorney changed Francis' plea from not-guilty to guilty without his consent, did not make an opening statement, called not a single witness, raised no objections, and mounted nothing that could be termed a defense. An all-white, all-male jury took just fifteen minutes to convict Francis and sentenced him to death by electrocution. All pertinent deadlines passed without a single appeal being filed on Francis's behalf.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools