Dan Leonetti Keeps a Promise to Little Joe Arridy
Posted in America’s with tags Dan Leonetti, death row, Gov. Bill Ritter, Joe Arridy, Joe Arridy Pardon, Little Joe Arridy, Pardon for Joe Arridy, Woodpecker Waltz on January 15, 2011 by buffalohair
Joe Arridy, the mentally challenges man executed for a crime he did not commit, was granted a posthumous pardon by Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado on Jan 7, 2011. With the stroke of a pen the compassionate governor righted a wrong exonerating a man who was put to death in the gas chamber at the Canyon City Territorial Prison 72 years ago. Though Little Joe has since been diseased his haunting memory lived in the hearts and souls of those who knew his innocence. The noble efforts of renowned humanitarian Robert Perske and attorney David Martinez were not in vain for Joe was vindicated of a crime he did not have the capacity to understand or commit. Perske and Martinez selflessly achieved the impossible while facing insurmountable odds in obtaining this historic pardon of a dead man. But there was another champion in my eyes who fought for Joe’s justice. He introduced me to the plight of the man/child Joe Arridy. His weapon of choice was the pen and his name is Daniel Sanchez Leonetti, author of the screenplay “Woodpecker Waltz”.
Redwood Forest 