Candidates for governor clash on execution policy

Gov. Mike Rounds said in a televised debate Wednesday night that he made the right decision when he postponed the execution of convicted murderer Elijah Page only a few hours before Page was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection.

"What you cannot do is make a mistake and execute a person and then say `Gee, I wish I could go back and fix it,' " Rounds said in a debate on KDLT-TV of Sioux Falls.

However, Democratic challenger Jack Billion said Rounds has not made clear why he postponed the Aug. 29 execution until at least next July.

"When was the decision made? Was it made two or three days before the execution was scheduled? Was it made days before the execution was scheduled?" Billion said. "On what basis was the decision made? I don't think that's really been answered effectively, at least not to the satisfaction of most people."

Rounds, who is seeking a second term as governor, has said he had to delay the planned execution of Page because state law calls for using two specific drugs while the state Corrections Department planned to use three drugs, which is the standard in other states that use lethal injections for executions.

During the hourlong debate, Rounds and Billion clashed on issues surrounding the postponed execution, a measure that would ban most abortions in South Dakota, and state government efforts to boost South Dakota's economy.

Rounds said he and Attorney General Larry Long will ask the Legislature to rewrite South Dakota's death penalty law to fix the problem caused by the current reference to two drugs.

One of the panelists in Wednesday night's debate, University of South Dakota political science professor Elizabeth Smith, asked Rounds what recommendation he would make to lawmakers in light of controversy surrounding the three-drug cocktail used in other states. That three-drug mix is being challenged in court in six states, she said.

Rounds said the proposed new language might be less specific than the current law.

"I do not know what the full language will be, but we'll do our best to make sure it's constitutionally correct," the governor said.

Billion said he would support the death penalty as governor because the people of South Dakota have approved it.

Billion said only the governor and maybe the attorney general know all the details involved in the delay of Page's execution. He has repeatedly said Rounds' handling of the postponement shows a lack of leadership.

"What I do question is whether or not under these circumstances the execution should have been delayed," Billion said.

Page, 24, of Athens, Texas, and Briley Piper, 25, of Anchorage, Alaska, are on death row for the torture slaying of Chester Allan Poage of Spearfish in 2000. Darrel Hoadley of Lead is serving a life sentence for the same crime.

When Page asked to end his appeals and be executed, he wrote a letter saying Piper had little to do with the murder. Piper has sought to have Page give sworn testimony to help Piper's attempt to overturn his death sentence.

Court papers indicate that Rounds gave Piper a chance to delay the Page execution. Piper's lawyer declined, saying he was in no position to request a reprieve, and Rounds went ahead and postponed Page's execution.

Rounds was asked during the debate if he had sought to have Piper seek the delay so he wouldn't have to do so as governor.

Rounds said his offer to Piper was intended to make sure Piper could not later claim that his star witness, Page, had been taken away by a state execution.

In the debate, Billion again questioned why Rounds signed a measure that would ban nearly all abortions in South Dakota. This year's Legislature passed the law to prompt a court challenge aimed at getting the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, but opponents of the law collected signatures to put the abortion ban to a public vote in the November election.

Rounds acknowledged that he believes the best way to end abortion is to chip away at it through a series of restrictions, but he said nearly two-thirds of the Legislature and many South Dakotans want to mount a direct court challenge to Roe v. Wade.

The Republican governor said he believes abortion should be allowed only to save the life of a pregnant woman. "What I do know is abortion is wrong."

Billion said the state should not interfere with a woman's right to make her own decisions about such matters. He said the measure on the ballot goes too far because it includes no exception for rape and incest. Supporters say victims of rape and incest could get emergency contraceptives up to the point a pregnancy could be determined.

Billion said the governor and Legislature have spent too much time on issues such as abortion when they should have focused more on health care, school funding and other issues.

"The people of South Dakota want to focus on the issues that unite us, not the issues that divide us," the Democrat said.

Rounds said he does not believe the Legislature should be prevented from discussing such issues.

"There is no better way to do it than America has in place today," Rounds said.

Rounds said he has helped boost South Dakota's economy during his first term. The state's economy has grown significantly, South Dakota's per capita income growth has led the nation for the past three years, and 18,000 jobs have been added in that time, he said.

"The news on the home front in terms of the economy is promising. It doesn't mean we can't do better, but things are moving in the right direction," the governor said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe in results and I believe in South Dakota we are providing results," Rounds added.

Billion said he believes the state is not doing enough to boost economic development in rural areas or to expand the production of wind energy. He said most of the economic growth in recent years has been due to inflation.

"My contention is we're not better off now than we were four years ago," the Democrat said.