Arizona Attorney General's Office

February 16, 2000

The execution by lethal injection of Anthony CHANEY #47141 was carried out at 3:10pm. today in ASPC-Florence. Chaney offered no last words.

Factual Background

Chaney and his "wife," Deanna (he was married to another when he "married" the woman who was also his co-defendant) were out of Arizona when their crime spree began. They burgled several homes in other states before entering Arizona.

At one home they found several guns which they took. After leaving and driving some distance, Chaney decided to re-burgle that home to make sure he did not miss any weapons. Chaney was described as a "gun nut," who knew quite a bit about them.

In New Mexico they were burgling a home when they discovered a late-model black Ford pickup with plates bearing the letters WMD. They transferred their booty to the truck and left their own vehicle somewhere in New Mexico.

They entered Arizona as the 1982 Labor Day Holiday began. They heard that DPS [Department of Public Safety] was setting up roadblocks to check for drunk drivers and they did not want to be stopped, so they decided to find a rural area and camp until the holiday was over.

Later, a Coconino County sheriff's deputy saw them and, because it was unusual to see people camping there, he decided to investigate.

As the deputy approached the campsite, he called in the description of the vehicle and its plates. He drove up behind the pickup and he exited his vehicle. He asked Chaney for identification, and Chaney said it was in his truck and that he would retrieve it.

The deputy talked to Deanna and suddenly Chaney was back with a gun pointed at the deputy's head. Deanna took the deputy's side arm. Chaney told Deanna to give him the AR-15 rifle (the civilian version of the M-16). While Chaney was pointing the rifle at the deputy, he told the deputy to kneel.

The deputy complied and, in fear of losing his life, began talking to Chaney in hopes of avoiding death. He told Chaney about his family and also that Chaney could handcuff him to a tree and thereby escape.

While this was going on, the dispatcher determined that the pickup was stolen and tried to inform the deputy. When there was no answer, the dispatcher called a second officer, who would be the victim, to investigate. Because the area is rural, there was some difficulty in locating the first deputy's exact position.

Chaney, who said he needed "more control" of the situation, handcuffed the first deputy to the tree, told Deanna to disable the two-way radio in the deputy's vehicle, and took its keys. Chaney and Deanna drove off. When he felt it was safe, the deputy took out a spare key and unhandcuffed himself and ran to the radio.

At the same time, the victim was progressing slowly up the dirt road, checking areas along the way. Suddenly he saw Chaney's vehicle. He called in and asked, "Black Ford pickup?" Chaney stopped his vehicle, jumped out with the AR-15 in hand and fired it while advancing on the deputy's vehicle.

The first deputy was talking with the dispatcher describing the assailants when he heard the gunfire; he grabbed his shotgun and ran towards the gunfire.

The victim threw himself to the seat to avoid the bullets as Chaney began firing. Over thirty bullets were fired. Glass and other debris were flying around the vehicle and over two hundred objects struck the deputy. One of the bullets nearly severed the deputy's left arm. Finally, Chaney was within nine feet of the deputy and to his rear. Chaney fired again, leaving powder burns on the victim's body.

Chaney returned to the truck, and he told Deanna: "Murder One" and "reload." As they were leaving, Deanna saw the victim try to drive his car, but he could not. The victim, who was a doctor and only a part-time deputy, was conscious for about thirty minutes after the attack. When the medics arrived he told them: "I'm dying, I'm dying" and "I can't breathe."

Chaney saw two boys in another pickup later in the same general area. He decided to take their pickup because the police had a description of his. Deanna went to the passenger window of the boys' pickup and began talking with them. Chaney came up to the driver's side, pointed his gun at the driver and told the boys to get out. They were told to kneel next to the truck.

After transferring their booty, Chaney told the boys to run. They did but dodged behind trees when they could because both feared a bullet in the back. Before telling the boys to run, Chaney told them that he had handcuffed one deputy to a tree and had shot another.

Chaney headed to Flagstaff to put gas in the pickup he had just stolen. Within minutes the police were in contact with the boys and sent out a description of the new vehicle. In Flagstaff the police spotted the vehicle but hoped to allow Chaney to leave Flagstaff before attempting an arrest.

There were many police cars in the area and Chaney remarked that he was in their midst and they did not realize it. Soon the police realized that surprise was gone and they moved in. After arrest, Chaney asked how the deputy was doing, to which the arresting officer said "shut up."

Procedural background

Chaney was indicted for first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of armed robbery, and one count each of burglary and theft. The State alleged two prior convictions. A jury found Chaney guilty as charged. He admitted the prior convictions.

Finding several aggravating factors and no mitigation, the trial court sentenced him to the maximum terms of 28 years in prison for the kidnapping, 21 years for the aggravated assault, 28 years for each armed robbery, 20 years for burglary, and 11.5 years for the theft.

All sentences are to run consecutively. For the first-degree murder, the sentencing court's special verdict found that the murder was especially heinous, cruel and depraved, and that no mitigation existed. The trial court imposed the death penalty.

On July 26, 1984, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences in State v. Chaney, 141 Ariz. 295, 686 P.2d 1265 (1984).

On March 11, 1985, Chaney filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the Arizona trial court that was summarily denied. The Arizona Supreme Court subsequently denied review on August 20, 1985.

On October 8, 1985, Chaney filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court. That court summarily denied relief. In Chaney v. Lewis, 801 F.2d 1191 (9th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1023 (1987), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s summary dismissal of factual issues and legal issues, but remanded the case for consideration of the remaining eight mixed questions of law and fact.

After considerable delay that included a change of counsel for Chaney, Chaney filed an amended petition in the federal district court on September 1992, adding five new issues. The State filed its response on November 3, 1992.

On August 6, 1992, Chaney sought a stay in the district court to return to state court and file another petition for post-conviction relief. The State unsuccessfully opposed this. The district court stayed the federal habeas corpus action on March 31, 1994, to allow Chaney to complete a second state post-conviction relief proceeding in State court.

Chaney returned to state court and filed a second unsuccessful petition for post-conviction relief raising seven issues. The Arizona Supreme Court eventually denied review on June 29, 1995.

Finally on December 28, 1995, the federal district court rejected all 20 of Chaney’s habeas claims.

Chaney appealed and lost in the Ninth Circuit on September 11, 1998. Chaney v. Stewart, 156 F.3d 921 (9th Cir. 1998). Chaney did not timely file his subsequent petition for writ of certiorari and it was rejected on that ground by the United States’ Supreme Court.

In the meantime in April 1998 Chaney had filed a second petition for post-conviction relief in the state trial court. That court denied relief on November 9, 1998, and the Arizona Supreme Court subsequently denied review.

On June 17, 1999, the State requested that the Arizona Supreme Court issue a warrant of execution.

Chaney then filed a third post-conviction action in the trial court. The trial court granted his motion to withdraw that action on October 25, 1999.

Chaney filed in the Arizona Supreme Court several unsuccessful requests to reopen the case or delay the execution on the ground that the United States Supreme Court was going to reconsider its decision in Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639 (1990).

The Arizona Supreme Court issued the warrant of execution on January 6, 2000 for February 16, 2000.

Arizona Department of Corrections

ANTHONY LEE CHANEY (DOB: April 4, 1954)

Chaney and Deanna Jo Saunders-Coleman were on the run from a string of burglaries in Texas and Colorado. They were driving a stolen pickup truck and were in possession of 11 stolen firearms.

On September 6, 1982, Coconino County Sheriff's Deputy Robert Cline, on routine patrol, checked the campsite where Chaney and Saunders-Coleman were staying outside of Flagstaff.

After requesting a check on the stolen truck, Cline got out of his car and began talking to Chaney. Chaney pulled a gun on the deputy, had Deanna disarm him, and handcuffed him to a tree. Chaney and Deanna got into the truck and started to leave. As they did, John Jamison, a reserve deputy who was also a medical doctor, arrived at the scene.

Chaney jumped out of the truck and began firing at Jamison with an AR-15 rifle. Using a hail of fire to pin Jamison down inside his car, Chaney advanced to point blank range and fired three fatal shots into the deputy. In addition to the fatal three wounds, the deputy was struck by over 200 fragments of metal and glass from the shots fired into the vehicle. Saunders-Coleman pled guilty to second-degree murder and received a 21-year prison sentence. She testified against Chaney.

PROCEEDINGS

Presiding Judge: William F. Garbarino
Prosecutors: John Verkamp and Charles D. Adams
Start of Trial: February 16, 1983
Verdict: March 17, 1983
Sentencing: April 20, 1983

Aggravating Circumstances:
Especially heinous/cruel/depraved

Anthony Chaney and Deanna Jo Saunders-Coleman were on the run from a string of burglaries in Texas and Colorado.

They burgled several homes in other states before entering Arizona. At one home they found several guns which they took. After leaving and driving some distance,

Chaney decided to re-burgle that home to make sure he did not miss any weapons. Chaney was described as a "gun nut," who knew quite a bit about them.

Officer Robert Cline, saw them and, because it was unusual to see people camping there, he decided to investigate. As the deputy approached the campsite, he called in the description of the vehicle and its plates. He drove up behind the pickup and he exited his vehicle.

He asked Chaney for identification, and Chaney said it was in his truck and that he would retrieve it. Deputy Cline talked to Deanna and suddenly Chaney was back with a gun pointed at the deputy's head. Deanna took Deputy Cline's side arm.

Chaney told Deanna to give him the AR-15 rifle (the civilian version of the M-16). While Chaney was pointing the rifle at Deputy Cline, he told him to kneel. Cline complied and, in fear of losing his life, began talking to Chaney in hopes of avoiding death.

He told Chaney about his family and also that Chaney could handcuff him to a tree and thereby escape. While this was going on, the dispatcher determined that the pickup was stolen and tried to inform the deputy. When there was no answer, the dispatcher called a second officer, John Jamison, to investigate.

Because the area is rural, there was some difficulty in locating the first deputy's exact position. Chaney, who said he needed "more control" of the situation, handcuffed Cline to the tree, told Deanna to disable the two-way radio in Cline's vehicle, and took its keys. Chaney and Deanna drove off.

When he felt it was safe, Deputy Cline took out a spare key and unhandcuffed himself and ran to the radio. John Jamison was progressing slowly up the dirt road, checking areas along the way.

Suddenly he saw Chaney's vehicle. He called in and asked, "Black Ford pickup?" Chaney stopped his vehicle, jumped out with the AR-15 in hand and fired it while advancing on Deputy Jamison's vehicle. Deputy Cline was talking with the dispatcher describing the assailants when he heard the gunfire; he grabbed his shotgun and ran towards the gunfire.

John Jamison threw himself to the seat to avoid the bullets as Chaney began firing. Over thirty bullets were fired. Glass and other debris were flying around the vehicle and over two hundred objects struck the deputy. One of the bullets nearly severed his left arm.

Finally, when Chaney was within nine feet of the car and to its rear, Chaney fired again, leaving powder burns on the victim's body. Chaney returned to the truck, and he told Deanna: "Murder One" and "reload." As they were leaving, Deanna saw Deputy try to drive his car, but he could not.

John Jamison, who was a doctor and only a part-time deputy, was conscious for about thirty minutes after the attack. When the medics arrived he told them: "I'm dying, I'm dying" and "I can't breathe."

Chaney saw two boys in another pickup later in the same general area. He decided to take their pickup because the police had a description of his. Deanna went to the passenger window of the boys' pickup and began talking with them.

Chaney came up to the driver's side, pointed his gun at the driver and told the boys to get out. They were told to kneel next to the truck. After transferring their booty, Chaney told the boys to run. They did but dodged behind trees when they could because both feared a bullet in the back.

Before telling the boys to run, Chaney told them that he had handcuffed one deputy to a tree and had shot another. Chaney headed to Flagstaff to put gas in the pickup he had just stolen. Within minutes the police were in contact with the boys and sent out a description of the new vehicle.

In Flagstaff the police spotted the vehicle but hoped to allow Chaney to leave Flagstaff before attempting an arrest. There were many police cars in the area and Chaney remarked that he was in their midst and they did not realize it. Soon the police realized that surprise was gone and they moved in.

Anthony Lee Chaney, 45, 00-02-16, Arizona

A man who shot a reserve sheriff's deputy more than 30 times with a semiautomatic assault rifle was executed by injection today. As he lay on a gurney, Anthony Lee Chaney glanced at friends, pursed his lips and shook his head.

He declined to say anything when asked if he wanted to offer any last words. "No," he said emphatically and then gave a thumbs up to his friends.As the drugs began flowing at 3:07 p.m., he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. His chest heaved once and then he stopped moving. He was pronounced dead at 3:10 p.m.

Chaney, 45, killed Coconino County reserve Deputy John B. Jamison on Sept. 6, 1982. Jamison had been responding to a report that a fellow deputy had stopped a stolen truck in the woods outside Flagstaff and wasn't answering radio calls.

Chaney opened fire as soon as Jamison pulled up. The officer never had a chance to draw his gun. Coconino County Sheriff Joe Richards, who had said Jamison's death had a profound effect on the Flagstaff community, said the execution brought back the emotions he felt after the shooting. Jamison was also a doctor in Flagstaff.

"I am really glad that it is over," said Richards. Another witness, state Rep. John Verkamp, who helped prosecute Chaney, noted Chaney refused to offer any apology, even at the end. "He was one of the coldest people I have seen in my life," Verkamp said.

Defense attorneys had tried to save Chaney's life earlier in the week by arguing he suffered from a mental disorder that caused him to react violently when Jamison arrived in his patrol car.

The attorneys complained Chaney was not given enough time to be properly tested for the mental disorder during his criminal trial. Prosecutors said Chaney's attorneys were given adequate time to examine the possible mental disorder, noting that six experts and five days of the trial were devoted to Chaney's mental status.

The day of the killing, Chaney was driving a stolen truck and was being sought for burglaries in New Mexico and Texas and had already pulled a gun on Deputy Bob Cline, handcuffing him to a tree.

Jamison had been called to check on Cline when he was shot to death. Chaney and a female companion were arrested later after stealing another truck. Deanna Jo Saunders-Coleman pleaded guilty and provided key testimony against Chaney. She was sentenced to 21 years in prison, but only served 14.

Chaney becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Arizona and the 20th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1992.

Even in Death Disgraced

By Lora J. Mackel - Wildcat Online

February 16, 2000

Yesterday, at 3 p.m., a man named Anthony Lee Chaney lost his life. Almost 18 years ago, a man named James Jamison lost his life when he was shot by Chaney. Chaney's attorney, in a last minute effort to save his client's life, claimed that Chaney was mentally ill at the time.

There is no question that the death penalty is a hypocritical way of punishing homicide, but it is also equally as abhorrent to use an insanity plea to excuse a criminal of culpability at the last minute.

Whether Anthony Lee Chaney was aware of himself at the time, James Jamison was brutally gunned down and killed on Labor Day 1982. He was a man whose life was valuable to those he loved. He most likely had a family. That family who was most likely eager to see that his killer be brought to justice.

Chaney went through a trial, was convicted and sentenced to die. His lawyers in the trial had ample opportunity to bring up his mentally instability and introduce witnesses who would testify on his behalf. A jury of Chaney's peers heard his case, and decided that he was guilty. An attorney who represented the state then sought the death penalty for the crime. A judge reviewed this, and decided that the punishment fit the crime.

For the last 18 years, Chaney's case has most likely gone through numerous appeals. Most death penalty cases do. Maybe his attorneys have been saying he's mentally ill all along. But lately they have used phrases like, "at the time," suggesting that Chaney was sane then, and could fully realize his crime.

Saying that criminals are insane at the time of killing is a no-brainer. It is easy to say that you were insane at a time that forever changes and shapes the meaning of your existence. Taking responsibility for your actions is far harder to do. As Chaney's last minutes alive ticked by, people who loved James Jamison probably waited for his crime to be punished.

What these people probably realized, after having a span of 17 years pass, is that no punishment will bring back their loved one. But having the criminal who killed him not even admit his guilt must hurt even more.

Our society does not structure its death penalty cases to be pleasant or comfortable for either the victim's or the criminal's side. And when a life is at stake, no one should be terribly comfortable. So we try to build in enough checks into the system to prevent innocent men and women from being executed.

Appeals are repeatedly made to everyone from the Supreme Court to the governor. This creates a dramatic environment in which criminals are not asked on their last days to be repentant for their crimes, but rather to do whatever they can to ensure that they live. Sometimes this includes making claims of false innocence or saying they were insane "at the time."

In the last tense hours of a death row inmate's life, second thoughts about guilt and innocence are reviewed. This process is so serious and takes so long because it is flawed. After a life is extinguished, there is not going back.

The very thought of executing an innocent man fuels this manic, emotional process, and makes every second leading up to the execution uncertain.

There are plenty of noble groups who come to the aid of criminals who are given the death penalty. These group's passions are justified, issues of life and death are hard to feel blas‚ about. What is lost in this group's drive to save lives, is that there is often a crime that justifies punishing at issue. On the other side of the execution room is a family who lost a loved one.

Whether these anti-death penalty groups enjoy hearing it or not, Anthony Lee Chaney was convicted of killing someone. The death penalty is an archaic form of punishment, and a flawed one. Its very set up robs families and friends of victims of the right to ever hear that the person who snuffed out their loved one's life is sorry for their crime.

Defense attorneys and right to life groups who encourage their clients to make last minute appeals that are not based on fact conduct themselves shamelessly and dishonor the victim by their policy of encouraging their clients not to take full responsibility for their crimes.

02-16-00 - ARIZONA EXECUTION:

A man who shot a reserve sheriff's deputy more than 30 times with a semiautomatic assault rifle was executed by injection today. As he lay on a gurney, Anthony Lee Chaney glanced at friends, pursed his lips and shook his head. He declined to say anything when asked if he wanted to offer any last words. "No," he said emphatically and then gave a thumbs up to his friends.

As the drugs began flowing at 3:07 p.m., he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. His chest heaved once and then he stopped moving. He was pronounced dead at 3:10 p.m.

Chaney, 45, killed Coconino County reserve Deputy John B. Jamison on Sept. 6, 1982. Jamison had been responding to a report that a fellow deputy had stopped a stolen truck in the woods outside Flagstaff and wasn't answering radio calls. Chaney opened fire as soon as Jamison pulled up. The officer never had a chance to draw his gun.

Coconino County Sheriff Joe Richards, who had said Jamison's death had a profound effect on the Flagstaff community, said the execution brought back the emotions he felt after the shooting. Jamison was also a doctor in Flagstaff. "I am really glad that it is over," said Richards. Another witness, state Rep. John Verkamp, who helped prosecute Chaney, noted Chaney refused to offer any apology, even at the end. "He was one of the coldest people I have seen in my life," Verkamp said.

Defense attorneys had tried to save Chaney's life earlier in the week by arguing he suffered from a mental disorder that caused him to react violently when Jamison arrived in his patrol car.

The attorneys complained Chaney was not given enough time to be properly tested for the mental disorder during his criminal trial. Prosecutors said Chaney's attorneys were given adequate time to examine the possible mental disorder, noting that six experts and five days of the trial were devoted to Chaney's mental status.

The day of the killing, Chaney was driving a stolen truck and was being sought for burglaries in New Mexico and Texas and had already pulled a gun on Deputy Bob Cline, handcuffing him to a tree.

Jamison had been called to check on Cline when he was shot to death. Chaney and a female companion were arrested later after stealing another truck. Deanna Jo Saunders-Coleman pleaded guilty and provided key testimony against Chaney. She was sentenced to 21 years in prison, but only served 14.

Chaney becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Arizona and the 2oth overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1992. Chaney becomes the 14th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 612th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.

Diane Chaney filed an injunction Tuesday to stop her husband's possessions from being given to an Arizona State University sociology professor who has befriended the 45-year-old death row inmate. "I have a lot of personal things in his property that I certainly don't want (Professor Ann Nichols) to get ahold of," Chaney said.

Her husband is set to be executed at 3 p.m. today for the murder of Dr. John Jamison, 40, a Flagstaff physician and Coconino County reserve sheriff's deputy, on Labor Day 1982. Diane Chaney said she sought the injunction after learning her husband of seven years made arrangements with prison officials to have his personal effects turned over to Nichols.

Nichols, who was barred from visiting Anthony at the state prison in Florence after she was accused of bringing in contraband, has declined to comment. She has said she plans to cremate his body and bury his remains after a private service in Green Valley. Diane, 43, an Australian native, said she has not had contact with her husband in about four years because she objected to Nichols' visits.

Although she will not witness her husband's execution, Diane plans to be outside the prison gates when her husband dies. Nichols said she's angry with Anthony but doesn't want to see him die.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency unanimously denied a reprieve or commutation for Anthony. At that hearing, Coconino County Sheriff Joseph Richards recounted in chilling detail how Chaney opened fire before Jamison could even get out of his cruiser. "John is the prey and he is the hunter," said Richards, choking with emotion as he described how the killer closed in on Jamison, shooting him three times. "This officer was pinned down, unable to unbuckle his seat belt, unable to disengage his weapon," he said.

Robert Cline, a sheriff's deputy who was handcuffed to a tree by Chaney and heard the shots that killed Jamison, said the murder has tormented him for years. Cline, who now works for the Flagstaff Police Department, told clemency board members that he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and felt tremendous guilt knowing that his call for help ended in Jamison's death. "I cannot begin to describe the fear I felt at that moment," he said of his run-in with Chaney. Cline asked the board to deny clemency, saying, "I need closure."

That same message was echoed in letters from Jamison's sister and mother. His daughter, Jobeth, who was 10 when her father was killed, attended the hearing but did not testify.

Anthony Chaney did not appear at the hearing. Others, however, argued against execution. "Tony Chaney has had almost 18 years to contemplate the wrong he's done, almost 18 years of conscience," said Carol Korich, with Sanctity of Life, People Against Execution. "Life in prison along with his conscience should be all justice requires." Clemency board members also received a joint letter from the bishops of Phoenix, Tucson and Gallup, N.M., objecting to the execution.

Attorneys for the condemned man had argued that Chaney suffers from a mental dysfunction that caused him to turn violent when he encountered Jamison. Attorney Ken Murray said the state failed to pay for medical tests or expert witnesses for his client, which could have proved that contention. Defense attorneys used that same argument in a failed bid to win a U.S. Supreme Court review of the case.

Murray said a 2nd appeal is still pending with the high court. In addition, he said, an attorney for another death row inmate has filed an appeal with the state to stop the execution on the grounds that Chaney is a witness in a pending assault case.