Georgia executes man for 1975 murder of topless dancer

<p>James Willie Brown was executed Tuesday for the 1975 rape of a topless dancer while she suffocated on her panties.</p><p>Brown, 55, was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson, south of Atlanta. It was the states 11th execution by injection.</p><p>Browns guilt was not in doubt, but his lawyers argued he was insane and should have been resentenced to life imprisonment without parole.</p><p>Brown was asked whether he wanted to make a final statement, but he merely shook his head no. When asked whether he wanted a final prayer, Brown again shook his head no.</p><p>Then, as the drugs were pumped into his body, Brown twitched slightly and moved his head back and forth. He then took a few deep final breaths, his cheeks puffing from the effort, then was still. All his reactions were similar to others who have been executed by injection.</p><p>Wardens said Brown ate all of his last meal, a foot-long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a 7-Up drink.</p><p>Brown was executed after decades of appeals and retrials were turned away by the courts. He was sentenced to death in two separate jury trials, and he was originally set to be executed a year ago until a judge delayed it hours before it was to take place.</p><p>Brown raped Brenda Sue Watson, 21, while she suffocated on her panties. They had been forced so far down her throat that they werent found until the autopsy.</p><p>Brown and Watson ate a takeout dinner of steak and potatoes at the Mark Inn Lounge in Gwinnett County on May 12, 1975.</p><p>They danced and drank for a few hours, and then they left together shortly before midnight.</p><p>Watsons body was found the next day in the woods.</p><p>She had been tied up with nylon cord and was mostly naked.</p><p>Browns lawyers argued he is a paranoid schizophrenic who should have never been sentenced to death. They say the death penalty was based on the lies of a witness who has since come clean.</p><p>A group of eight protesters held a candlelight vigil at the prison entrance Tuesday night.</p><p>I just feel strongly that there are enough victims already, said John Bringewatt, who was visiting Georgia from St. Paul, Minn. I had an evening free and I wanted to be here just to be here.</p><p>Brown was the 33rd man executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. He was the 11th inmate to be executed by injection.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/11/184553