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Profile David Paul Hammer
My name is David Paul Hammer. I am forty-eight years old and have been under a federally imposed sentence of death since November 4, 1998. I was sentenced to death for the murder of my cellmate, Andrew Marti. I pled guilty to this crime, and was sentenced to death upon the binding recommendation of a jury. Since the jury’s verdict I have vacillated numerous times over whether or not to pursue further appeals in my case. In June of 2004, I came within three days of being execution. I was granted a stay of execution, and on July 9, 2004, I filed an irrevocable decision to pursue all available judicial remedies to their conclusion. Basically, the federal courts were tired of my “flip flopping” on the issue of appeals, and required that I make a final decision. Having been continuously incarcerated for the past twenty-seven years, and having spent the last five years (July 13, 1999 through June 25, 2004) on death row in Terre Haute, Indiana, the lure of death was strong. The prospect of spending ten, twenty or thirty years more in prison is at time overwhelming. Surrendering to death by way of execution can be an attractive option when considering the alternatives. In the end an instinct to survive is even more powerful than a desire to acquiesce in one’s own death by way of lethal injection. At least for me that is the case. I am originally from the state of Oklahoma. My early years were spent traveling from one spot to another as my parents worked as farm laborers. Later my younger sister and I also worked in the cotton and peanut fields. By age thirteen I was living on the streets surviving by any means possible. I was married at age sixteen. By age eighteen I was incarcerated in the county jail and on my way to state prison. The rest is history. During my lengthy incarceration I have completed my GED and obtained three two-year associate degrees in criminal justice, psychology, and paralegal studies. All of the college degrees were obtained at my own expense, not one taxpayer dollar went towards my education. (Contrary to some beliefs, prison inmates do not receive any grants or funds for college while incarcerated. Congress stopped all such grants in 1993). I am actively involved in several social justice issues. Fighting to abolish the death penalty, to end child abuse, and to improve prison conditions are among some of them. Towards that end, I co-founded this website and have written or co-written two books with my share of the proceeds going to an education fund, and a charitable fund. There is nothing I can ever do on this earth to make amends for having taken a human life. There isn’t a day which passes that I don’t think of Andrew and his family. I’ve caused them untold pain and suffering, and for that I have asked forgiveness. I have been judged by a jury to pay with my life, and I will also be held accountable by a higher authority when my days on this earth are over.
Address: David P. Hammer #24507-077
Visit my website at; www.dphammer.net Visit David's Art for Sale page Read David's Essays, journals or letters.
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