Execution of Joe Arridy: Comments of a Forensic Expert

Abstract

This is an abbreviated version of an affidavit, submitted in the fall of 2010, in support of a petition to grant a posthumous pardon for Joe Arridy, a man with intellectual disability who was executed in Colorado’s gas chamber in 1939 at the age of 23. In this affidavit I focus mainly on Arridy’s intellectual disability. In another article in this issue (also derived from an affidavit), Robert Perske focuses more on the tainted prosecution and trial as well as evidence for Arridy’s innocence. On January 7, 2011, outgoing Colorado governor Bill Ritter, Jr., granted that posthumous pardon, citing both of these factors: the great likelihood that Joe Arridy did not commit the crime for which he was executed and the impact of Arridy’s very significant cognitive deficits that affected his ability to receive a fair trial. Readers should be cautioned that I use now-offensive terminology, not because I find it acceptable but to accurately reflect the historical record. I acknowledge my tremendous debt to Robert Perske for bringing this case to light (and helping me understand Joe Arridy) and Denver attorney David Martinez for leading the legal fight to secure this long-overdue pardon.