Inmate’s Lawyer Frowns Upon ‘Happy Face’ on Death Warrant

A lawyer for a Death Row inmate is complaining because a judge sent the condemned man an execution order signed with a little “happy face” flourish.

“It’s like someone laughing at a funeral,” said William Kunstler, attorney for Robert Nelson Drew, who was convicted of killing a hitchhiker in 1983.

Kunstler said Drew “was shocked by it. Who would not be shocked?” The lawyer told the New York Times that his client interpreted the grinning face as callous mockery. “It’s like he’s saying, ‘Have a nice death,’ ” Kunstler said.

But Judge Charles J. Hearn said Tuesday that he meant no disrespect on the execution order. Hearn, 62, said he has put a happy face on his signature for as long as he can remember, in hopes of brightening someone’s day.

The same happy face flourish caused a stir last year when Hearn used it on the bottom of a letter to other judges announcing a peer’s death.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good signature. You’ve got to be a happy person. We’ve got too many people . . . walking around with grim looks on their faces,” Hearn said.

Kunstler said the signature shows the prevailing callousness regarding the death penalty.

“Everybody has become so jaded . . . that now we greet it more with smiles than tears,” he said. “Maybe Hearn’s done one good thing here: Maybe he’s exposed the feeling that these things have become routine.”

Kunstler, who maintains Drew is innocent, said he plans to study whether the happy face can be used to get a new trial. Hearn was the trial judge in the case.