Vernell Crittendon Quotations

One inmate has a slash wound that goes from his ear all the way over to his mouth. It appears he was attacked by a razor blade attached to a toothbrush or a comb.

He was quite relieved to find that he was not going to be executed. He smiled, he nodded, he thanked me.

He was laughing and joking with loved ones over the telephone.

He wanted to be remembered for the good times in the past, rather than the situation he now finds himself in.

We were unable to provide him with a security clearance because of his arrest history.

We'll delay the process to give them a reasonable amount of time. We are continuing to stand poised to carry out the execution of Michael Morales.

We were not able to find a licensed professional that was willing to inject medication intravenously, ending the life of a human being.

We could not proceed under the conditions that have been set by the court . . . so the execution will not proceed. We are standing down.

The execution warrant, it's good for 24 hours, so there is no need to rush into this if the warden is not completely comfortable.

When you look at the totality of what has been occurring that leads me to seriously question this man of peace. A con always will say one thing to you while the whole time he has another agenda. I'm concerned that possibly this marketing that's going on ... leads the public to hear the words, but not to see that sleight of hand.

We are unable to have a licensed medical professional come forward to inject the medication intravenously, causing the life to end.

At about 8:40 this morning we had approximately 400 inmates participating in a riot. Thirty-nine of them we have been able to identify as needing medical treatment.

At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life. We would resuscitate him.

There was a great deal of concern on their faces under the circumstances of some people that Michael Morales would not suffer. They find that to be very disturbing.

No shock to those of us who knew him. I've watched him walk and read his own mail for a long time now.

This is the first time in my experience that it has unfolded in this manner.

A con always will say one thing to you while the whole time he has another agenda. I'm concerned that possibly this marketing that's going on ... leads the public to hear the words, but not to see that sleight of hand.

They were preparing to start moving the inmates over for breakfast. We had them segregated. The Latino inmates were going to exit and go to breakfast. During that movement, the initial reports indicate that the Latinos began to attack white inmates.

Once he arrived this morning, he appeared to try to come off as if he was very calm and composed. But you could see that veil of nervousness about him. He would give off those nervous smiles to the various staff as we were moving him through that process.