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The Documentary: The other side of death row

The Other Side Of Death Row

24/05/2022 GMT

The other side of death row

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The other side of death row

What effect does having a relative facing execution have on families of the condemned?

It's 31 years since Christine Towery's brother Robert killed a man and 10 years since he died at the hands of the state of Arizona by lethal injection.

For two decades Christine had to live in the shadow of her brother's death sentence. Christine regularly travelled long distances to see her brother on death row but for all that time a pane of glass would prevent them from hugging or shaking hands. Only after he was dead was she be able to connect with him physically. Meanwhile her son had built a bond with his uncle, which was shattered by Robert's execution. Christine's confidence and faith was blown to pieces.
 
Through conversations with counsellors, campaigners and her children, Christine examines the impact her brother's crime, conviction and eventual execution has had on her and her family. How do you rebuild?

Is it time for the US to acknowledge the pain experienced by these 'other victims’? Christine recalls a touching connection she made with the family of her brother's victim.

And will botched executions and miscarriages be enough to persuade all States to abolish the death penalty or does the ‘eye for an eye’ principle still hold sway?

(Photo: A view of a cell block at San Quentin State Prison's death row, California. Credit:  Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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