EXECUTION WATCH: KEITH THURMOND MARCH 7

Keith Thurmond

By Execution Watch
KPFT FM 90.1 Houston

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- The busiest death chamber in the industrialized West is preparing to put the 480th notch in its belt since the U.S. Supreme Court reopened the gates to the death penalty in 1976.

Keith Thurmond's attorney missed a filing deadline, causing Thurmond to lose his federal appeal, the last constitutionally required review before a death sentence may be carried out. Execution Watch will provide live coverage and commentary Wednesday on his execution.

Execution Watch's live coverage and commentary will include reports from outside the death house, a vigil report, a legal analysis of the case, and an interview with attorney and author John Bessler about his new book offering an historical perspective on the Eighth Amendment.

The broadcast may be heard starting at 6 p.m. Central Time Wednesday on KPFT FM 90.1 Houston, a flagship station of the nonprofit Pacifica Network, or online at http://executionwatch.org > Listen.

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE

KEITH THURMOND, 52, a former master mechanic who was convicted of shooting and killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend in Magnolia in 2001. He lost his federal appeal when his attorney missed a filing deadline, essentially waiving Thurmond’s last constitutionally required review before the death sentence could be carried out. Background at http://executionwatch.org > Keith Thurmond > Backpage.


SHOW LINEUP
Host: OTIS MACLAY, a broadcast veteran and former program director of KPFT, he co-hosts The Monitor on Monday nights. He is also technical director of Execution Watch.


Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a legal educator and retired attorney, the native Texan has seen capital trials from both the prosecution defense tables. Joining him will be attorneys SUSAN ASHLEY and LARRY DOUGLAS.


Featured Interview: JOHN BESSLER, author of Cruel & Unusual: The American Death Penalty and the Founders’ Eighth Amendment, exploring the Constitutional protection in light of the founders' ambivalent views on capital punishment. Bessler is associate professor at University of Baltimore School of Law and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.


Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC founder and leader, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, abolitionmovement.org.


Reporter, Vigil, Houston: DAVE ATWOOD, a founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, will report from the vigil the group sponsors in Houston,  www.tcadp.org.


NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION
On March 28 Texas plans to kill JESSE HERNANDEZ. We’ll broadcast; see executionwatch.org.


PRODUCER: Elizabeth, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com.
STUDIO ENGINEER: Doyle.
THEME:  By Victoria Panetti, SheMonster International, myspace.com/shemonster.

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