Lawyered Alive

Just kill him already:

Ten months ago, convicted killer Shannon M. Johnson stood before Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady and said he wanted to waive any remaining appeals and essentially speed up his execution.

Johnson -- who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2006 slaying of Cameron Hamlin -- was back in front of Brady on Friday expressing clear frustration.

"This process is taking entirely too long. I honestly want to be out of here by next year," he said.

In February, Brady suggested the process would take at a minimum three to four months. But since then, the Federal Public Defenders Office has attempted to become involved -- over Johnson's explicit objections -- to stop the waiver, but did not successfully join the case.

All sides later agreed that because Johnson's attorney, Jennifer-Kate Aaronson, was abiding by Johnson's wish to waive appeals and Delaware prosecutors did not oppose the waiver, an independent attorney needed to be appointed by the court to "take an adverse position" at any waiver hearing to ensure the process is done correctly.

That attorney, Thomas Foley, has since required additional time to review the record and is seeking permission to hire experts to determine whether Johnson suffers from mental retardation -- though independent experts recently completed an evaluation that confirmed he is competent.

Foley has asked for about $50,000 to complete the reviews.

That would be fifty grand in tax money. Your money.

Kinda makes you wanna go find a lawyer and punch him the mouth, doesn't it? Don't let me stop you.