Ricky Ray Rector

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Ricky Ray Rector

| image = Ricky Ray Rector.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date|1950|1|12}}

| birth_place = Conway, Arkansas, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|1992|1|24|1950|1|12}}

| death_place = Cummins Unit, Lincoln County, Arkansas, U.S.

| death_cause = Execution by lethal injection

| criminal status = Executed

| conviction = Capital murder

| sentence = Death

| victims = Arthur D. Criswell
Robert W. Martin

| date = March 21/24, 1981

| other_names = Rickey Ray Rector

}}

Ricky Ray Rector (January 12, 1950 – January 24, 1992) was an American convicted murderer who was executed for the 1981 murder of police officer Bob Martin in Conway, Arkansas. After killing a man in a restaurant and fleeing, Rector spent three days on the run before he agreed to turn himself in. However, instead of giving himself up, he shot the police officer who had negotiated his surrender in the back. He then shot himself in the head in a suicide attempt. The attempt effectively resulted in a lobotomy.{{cite court|litigants=Ricky Ray Rector, Appellant, v. Steve Clark, Attorney General, State of Arkansas; And, A.l.lockhart, Director of Arkansas Department Of correction, Appellees|vol=923 F.2d 570|reporter=Justia|opinion=|pinpoint=|court=United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit|date=January 2, 1991|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/923/570/127863/|quote=}}

A 1991 request for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court was denied, with Justice Thurgood Marshall dissenting.[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/501/1239.html RECTOR v. BRYANT 501 U.S. 1239 115 L.Ed.2d 1038] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719055306/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/501/1239.html |date=2018-07-19 }}, U.S. Supreme Court, 24 June 1991. Retrieved December 9, 2013. Despite Rector's mental state, then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton made a point of returning to Arkansas to personally handle Rector's case during the 1992 U.S. presidential election campaign.

Early life

Rector was born and raised in Conway, Arkansas, as the sixth of seven children to steakhouse cook George Rector and college dorm maid Clyde Lee Rector. As a child, Rector was described as "different and strange", having no friends and keeping to himself, most often sitting under a tree to play with branches. Rector was physically abused by his father, who saw his son's languid behavior as defiance. Though normally introverted and docile, Rector would react violently if bothered, once stabbing his brother in the foot with a pair of scissors for taunting him.

By the time he entered junior high school, Rector possessed only third-grade level writing skills, which was later ascribed to an undiagnosed learning disability. By age 17, Rector developed severe anger issues and regularly got into fights, reportedly due to a mix of insecurity about his poor academic performance, insults about his perceived lack of intelligence by classmates and abusive racial remarks from white townsfolk.

After Rector was expelled from school in tenth grade for fighting, he began working as a blue-collar laborer in construction, often shuffling between Conway and Detroit. Rector married during this timeframe and had several children, both from his wife and extramarital affairs. His criminal record included disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, assault and battery, grand larceny, forgery, and assault with intent to kill; all charges either led to monetary fines or were dismissed with prejudice.{{Cite web |last=Janos |first=Adam |date=May 12, 2020 |title=Rickey Ray Rector, The Death Row Inmate Who Lobotomized Himself |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/rickey-ray-rector-killer-who-lobotomized-himself |access-date= |website=A&E |language=en}}

Murders and trial

On March 21, 1981, Rector and some friends drove to a dance hall at Tommy's Old-Fashioned Home-Style Restaurant in Conway. When one friend who could not pay the $3 cover charge was refused entry, Rector became incensed and pulled a .38 caliber pistol from his waist band. He fired several shots, killing 33-year-old Arthur D. Criswell, who died almost instantly after being struck in the throat and forehead, also wounding 52-year-old William Hervey and his 23-year-old son Charles. Rector left the scene of the murder in a friend's car and wandered the city for three days, staying in the woods or with relatives.{{cite web|last1=Bright|first1=Stephen B.|title=Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty & Disadvantage|url=http://campuspress.yale.edu/capitalpunishment/files/2014/12/Class-1-Part-1-Rector-q7tpo2.pdf|website=Yale Campus Press|publisher=Yale Law School|accessdate=January 31, 2015|archive-date=November 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112151844/http://campuspress.yale.edu/capitalpunishment/files/2014/12/Class-1-Part-1-Rector-q7tpo2.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=March 24, 1981 |title=A man wanted on murder charges in a fraternity... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/24/A-man-wanted-on-murder-charges-in-a-fraternity/6665354258000/ |access-date= |website=UPI |language=en}}

On March 24, Rector's sister convinced him to turn himself in. Rector agreed to surrender, but only to Robert Martin, a local police officer whom he had known since he was a child.{{Cite web |title=Patrolman Robert W. Martin |url=https://www.odmp.org/officer/8627-patrolman-robert-w-martin |access-date= |website=The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)}}{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Alexander |date=2001-12-19 |title=Bill Clinton's Death Penalty Waffle -- |url=https://prospect.org/article/bill-clinton-s-death-penalty-waffle/ |access-date= |website=The American Prospect |language=en-us}} Martin arrived at Rector's mother's home shortly after 3 p.m. and chatted with Rector's mother and sister. Shortly thereafter, Rector arrived and greeted Martin. As Martin turned away to continue his conversation with Rector's mother, Rector drew his pistol from under his shirt and fired two shots into Martin, striking him in the jaw and neck. Martin became the first officer of the Conway Police Department to die in the line of duty. Rector then turned and walked out of the house.{{cite news|title=Police Officer Killed During Mission to Apprehend Suspect|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115460456/police-officer-killed-during-mission-to/|newspaper=The Daily Oklahoman|date=March 25, 1981|page=46|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 30, 2022}}{{cite news|title=Arkansas Policeman Slain in Shooting|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115460293/arkansas-policeman-slain-in-shooting/|newspaper=The Memphis Press-Scimitar|date=March 25, 1981|page=3|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 30, 2022}}

Once he had walked past his mother's backyard, Rector put his gun to his own temple and fired. Rector was quickly discovered by other police officers and taken to the local hospital. The shot had destroyed Rector's frontal lobe.{{cite book|last1=Graetz|first1=Michael J.|last2=Greenhouse|first2=Linda|title=The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdXPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|year=2016|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4767-3252-7|page=37|access-date=2017-12-18|archive-date=2020-03-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324234801/https://books.google.com/books?id=CdXPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|url-status=live}}

Rector survived the suicide attempt and was put on trial for the first-degree murders of Criswell and Martin, as well as first-degree battery of the Herveys. His defense attorneys argued that Rector was intellectually impaired and not competent to stand trial. However, after hearing conflicting testimony from several experts who had evaluated Rector, Judge George F. Hartje ruled that Rector was competent to stand trial. Rector was convicted on both counts and sentenced to death by the jury.{{cite court

|litigants=Ricky Ray RECTOR, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

|vol=277 Ark. 17, 638 S.W.2d 672 (1982)

|reporter=

|opinion=

|pinpoint=

|court=Supreme Court of Arkansas.

|date=September 13, 1982

|url=http://174.123.24.242/leagle/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=19821310638SW2d672_11305.xml&docbase=CSLWAR1-1950-1985

|quote=

}}{{cite court

|litigants=Ricky Ray RECTOR, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

|vol=280 Ark. 385 659 S.W.2d 168 (1983)

|reporter=

|opinion=

|pinpoint=

|court=Supreme Court of Arkansas.

|date=October 17, 1983

|url=http://174.123.24.242/leagle/xmlResult.aspx?page=2&xmldoc=1983827659SW2d168_1827.xml&docbase=CSLWAR1-1950-1985&SizeDisp=7

|quote=

}}{{cite court

|litigants=RICKY RAY RECTOR, PETITIONER v. A.L. "ART" LOCKHART, Director Arkansas Department of Corrections and STEVE CLARK, Attorney General of the State of Arkansas, RESPONDENTS

|vol=727 F.Supp. 1285 (1990)

|reporter=

|opinion=

|pinpoint=

|court=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS, PINE BLUFF DIVISION

|date=January 3, 1990

|url=http://ar.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19900103_0000001.EAR.htm/qx

|quote=

}}

Execution

Rector was subject to a unique overlap of controversies in 1992, during his execution in Arkansas. An oft-cited example of his mental insufficiency is his decision to save the dessert from his last meal "for later," which would have been after his execution.{{cite magazine |last=Frady |first=Marshall |title=Death in Arkansas |magazine=The New Yorker |date=February 22, 1993 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/02/22/death-in-arkansas |access-date=July 27, 2017 |archive-date=July 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728033012/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/02/22/death-in-arkansas |url-status=live }}{{cite book|last=Grant|first=Patrick|title=Imperfection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tb-15eMQpMsC&pg=PA82|year=2012|publisher=Athabasca University Press|isbn=978-1-926836-75-1|page=82|access-date=2017-12-18|archive-date=2020-03-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324234840/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tb-15eMQpMsC&pg=PA82|url-status=live}} In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of people with intellectual disabilities in Atkins v. Virginia, ruling that the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

=Last meal=

For his last meal, Rector requested and received a steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, and pecan pie. As noted above, Rector left the pie on the side of the tray, telling the corrections officers who came to take him to the execution chamber that he was "saving it for later." The slice of pecan pie was not disposed of until Rector had been executed.{{cite book |last1=Lusane |first1=Clarence |title=African Americans at the Crossroads: The Restructuring of Black Leadership and the 1992 Elections |date=1994 |publisher=South End Press |location=Boston |page=158 |url=https://www.questia.com/read/102120253/african-americans-at-the-crossroads-the-restructuring |url-access=subscription |access-date=2018-08-26 |archive-date=2018-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826113635/https://www.questia.com/read/102120253/african-americans-at-the-crossroads-the-restructuring |url-status=live |isbn=}}{{ISBN?}}

=Execution=

Rector was put to the death by lethal injection. It took medical staff more than fifty minutes to find a suitable vein. The curtain remained closed between Rector and the witnesses, but some reported they could hear Rector moaning. The administrator of the State Department of Corrections Medical Program said "the moans did come as a team of two medical people—that had grown to five—worked on both sides of his body to find a vein. That may have contributed to his occasional outbursts." The state later attributed the difficulty in finding a suitable vein to Rector's great weight and to his having been administered an antipsychotic medication.

Rector was the third person executed by the state of Arkansas since Furman v. Georgia,Furman v. Georgia, {{ussc|408|238|1972}} after new capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas, which came into force on March 23, 1973.

=Role in 1992 presidential campaign=

By 1992, Bill Clinton was insisting that Democrats "should no longer feel guilty about protecting the innocent" and indicated his support of capital punishment.{{cite book|last=Hartman|first=Andrew|title=A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fW__BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|year=2015|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-25464-7|page=121|access-date=2017-12-18|archive-date=2020-03-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324234914/https://books.google.com/books?id=fW__BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|url-status=live}} To make his point, he flew home to Arkansas mid-campaign to affirm that the execution would continue as scheduled.{{cite journal|last1=Soss|first1=Joe|last2=Langbein|first2=Laura|last3=Metelko|first3=Alan R.|title=Why Do White Americans Support the Death Penalty?|journal=The Journal of Politics|date=September 27, 2001|volume=65|issue=2|page=399|doi=10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00006|s2cid=38112237|language=en}} Some pundits considered it a turning point in that race, hardening a soft public image.{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Nathan J. |date=November 2016 |title=The Death of Ricky Ray Rector |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/bill-clinton-rickey-rector-death-penalty-execution-crime-racism/ |access-date=14 March 2022 |website=Jacobin}} Others tend to cite the execution as an example of what they perceive to be Clinton's opportunism, directly influenced by the failed presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, who was labeled by Republicans as too soft on crime.{{cite journal|last1=O'Connor|first1=Brendon|title=Policies, Principles, and Polls: Bill Clinton's Third Way Welfare Politics 1992–1996|journal=Australian Journal of Politics & History|date=September 2002|volume=48|issue=3|page=401|doi=10.1111/1467-8497.00267|language=en|issn=1467-8497}}

Clinton's critics from the anti-capital punishment sector have seen the case of Rector as an unpleasant example of what they view as Clinton's cynical careerism. The writer Christopher Hitchens, in particular, devotes much of a chapter of his book on Clinton, No One Left to Lie To, to what he regards as the immorality of the then Democratic candidate's decision to condone, and take political advantage of, Rector's execution. Hitchens argues that among other actions, Clinton was attempting to deflect attention from the ongoing Gennifer Flowers sex scandal.{{cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hitchens|title=No One Left to Lie To |publisher=Verso Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-1859847367|title-link=No One Left to Lie To }}