Frank Walls isn’t as dumb as he pretends to be. At hearings before his 1988 trial, he shuffled and mumbled and almost convinced the court he was incompetent. But then he got chatty with a jailer and admitted he was faking mental illness because “it would buy me some time.”
Loose lips sink ships. They can also sink an insanity defense. The judge decided that Walls was “attempting to … feign a mental disease or disorder.”
Nevertheless, the serial killer with the blood of five people on his hands — all slain in the Fort Walton Beach area during 1985-87 — never gave up trying to buy some time. His lawyers have argued repeatedly that he is “troubled” and shouldn’t be put to death.
Yes, he should, says state Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The Republican from Fort Walton Beach is sponsoring the Timely Justice Act, which would speed up Florida’s capital punishment process by, among other things, shortening the time frame for an inmate’s appeals. The House passed the bill last week.
Frank Walls is Exhibit A when Rep. Gaetz makes his case that killers sentenced to die should meet their maker a little faster. Walls has been on death row for 25 years.
“If the Timely Justice Act becomes law,” Rep. Gaetz said the other day, “Mr. Walls is going to have to start thinking about what his last meal is going to be. … My belief is the governor will very promptly be signing his death warrant.”
One might argue that if Walls was sentenced to die so he wouldn’t hurt anyone else, that goal is already met. He’s been locked up for a quarter-century and hasn’t hurt anybody. But it’s not that simple. The death sentence is supposed to be the ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime, the crime of murder.
Walls understands. In a 1987 interview with a Daily News reporter, he didn’t talk about avoiding prison. He talked about avoiding execution. “I still have my faith in God,” he said, “and I believe I won’t go to the electric chair.”
Walls has bought himself enough time. If Rep. Gaetz’s legislation means a long-ago death sentence is finally carried out, so be it.
↧
EDITORIAL: For Walls, time is running out
↧