Born and raised in Miami, Florida, I was sentenced to death in 1988, for my part in a botched attempt to assist a friend in escaping from a prison transport van in West Palm Beach, during which my accomplice, Frank Valdes, shot and killed a guard. When Valdes was subsequently murdered in his death row cell by eight Florida State Prison guards I was transferred to Virginia’s death row, where I remain. I have self-published an award-winning autobiography, A Checkered Past, and a novel, Quietus, and several of my short stories have been published in various literary journals. I maintain a blog, www.deathrowdiary.blogspot.com, and my column appears at www.deathrowspeaks.info.