Death Penalty Moratorium Leaves Survivors, Convicts In Limbo

Capital punishment opponents see momentum for repeal

The first time John Booth-El was sentenced to die, Phyllis Bricker drove to the Northwest Baltimore home where he had tied up and fatally stabbed her parents. She looked at an empty window, she said, "as if to say, It's all over. We got you justice."

More than a quarter-century later, Booth-El is one of the longest-serving men on Maryland's small death row, and Bricker has grown weary of her battles, first with the court system and more recently with the state government.

"There has been no closure, no justice," she said, her voice rising as she jabs the notepad in which she has tracked court and legislative hearings over the years.

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