Despite former Governor Ernie Fletcher's last minute pardons during his last day in office, political observers say the move will have no lasting impact on how he is remembered.

They say a patronage scandal will remain in the forefront of people's minds.

Fletcher pardoned or commuted the sentences of several convicted killers, including Jeffrey Devan Leonard, who was on Death Row.

Leonard, a brain-damaged Louisville man, had been slated for execution for killing a store owner.

Fletcher also pardoned nine women, most of whom were convicted of killing abusive husbands.