page_title: Execution of Antonio James
section_title: Execution
hierarchical_section_title: Execution of Antonio James / Execution
caption_attribution_description: English: Louisiana State Penitentiary entrance - The placard says "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "Warden Burl Cain" Français&#160;: Entrée principale du Louisiana State Penitentiary - La plaque dit "Louisiana State Penitentiary" et "Warden Burl Cain" (Directeur Burl Cain)
context_page_description: Antonio G. James was an American murderer. He was tried and executed in Louisiana for the murder of Henry Silver. Antonio James claims to have not been the murderer in the event and held that conviction to his death. This case is notable not for any unusual or intrinsic aspect, but for being one of the few such cases that ever comes to the attention of the general public.
  Like the case of Edward Earl Johnson whose last days on death row in Mississippi were filmed for the BBC in 1987 as Fourteen Days in May, this case came to light precisely because it was so ordinary, and was seen to be so. To some it demonstrated the need for capital punishment to protect the public from such dangerous people. To others it demonstrated the inhumanity of death row. Whatever conclusions were reached, this case remains one of the few such cases in the public domain that does not involve a celebrity perpetrator or victim, and so reminds all concerned of nature of most capital cases in the USA.
context_section_description: On March 1, 1996, James was executed by lethal injection at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at the age of 42. The execution team had difficulty locating a vein to insert the catheter into his arm in order to commence the execution. Warden Burl Cain requested that James make a fist in order to assist the process. James complied in this request.
  James declined to give a final statement. However, Warden Cain later said that James stated "Bless you", as he was strapped to the execution gurney. His last meal was fried oysters and crab gumbo.
  James' execution was the subject of an ABC News documentary on Prime Time Live. In the UK the BBC broadcast a 40-minute piece on 18 April 1996 on Radio 4 about this case, with particular reference to the role of the British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith in providing adequate defence for such cases.
caption: Louisiana State Penitentiary, where James died.
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