tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222235802024-03-07T16:35:49.499-08:00Texas Death PenaltyHooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.comBlogger1411125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-24393910312808221792016-07-21T19:00:00.002-07:002016-07-21T19:02:42.642-07:00Hedayati: In Texas death row case, punishment does not fit crimeBy Hooman Hedayati
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Special to the <a href="http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/opinion/hedayati-in-texas-death-row-case-punishment-does-n/nrzm7/">American-Statesman</a><br />
<br />
Jeff Wood has an appointment he hopes to miss.<br />
<br />
On Aug. 24,
2016, at about 6 p.m., the Texas Department of Criminal Justice plans to
inject a lethal dose of pentobarbital into Jeff’s veins to stop his
heart as punishment for the 1996 murder of Kris Keeran.<br />
<br />
What makes
this execution controversial is that everyone, including law
enforcement and the prosecution, agrees that Wood, the driver of the
getaway car, did not kill Kris Keeran inside a Kerrville convenient
store on the morning of January 2, 1996. In fact, Daniel Reneau, the
actual and sole killer of Keeran, was executed for his crime on June 13,
2002.<br />
<br />
Wood was convicted and sentenced to die under Texas’ arcane
felony-murder law, more commonly known as the “the law of parties” —
for his role as an accomplice to a killing, which he had no reason to
anticipate. Under the law of parties, those who conspire to commit a
felony, like a robbery, can be held responsible for a subsequent crime,
like murder, if it “should have been anticipated.” The law does not
require a finding that the person intended to kill. It only requires
that the defendant, charged under the law of parties, was a major
participant in the underlying felony and exhibited a reckless
indifference to human life. In other words, neglecting to anticipate
another actor’s commission of murder in the course of a felony is all
that is required to make a Texas defendant death-eligible.<br />
<br />
Texas
is not the only state that holds co-conspirators responsible for one
another’s criminal acts. However, it is one of few states that applies
the death sentence to them. There have been only 10 people in the U.S.
executed under the law of parties — and five of those 10 executions were
in Texas. The last such execution was in 2009, where the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles (BPP) recommended, with a 5-2 vote, that Robert
Thompson’s death sentence be commuted to life. Rick Perry rejected that
vote and allowed the execution to proceed. Thompson was executed, even
though it was his co-defendant, Sammy Butler, who actually killed the
victim. Butler was given a life sentence.<br />
<div class="inline-related cm-inline cm-inline-medleyphoto cm-inline">
<br /></div>
When
the convenient store robbery took place, Wood was sitting in a car
outside, under the impression that Reneau was going into the store to
get “road drinks and munchies.” Although it is true that Wood and Reneau
had talked about robbing the store at the behest of the manager, Wood
had backed out of the idea. Wood had no idea Reneau was carrying a gun
and was going to attempt to rob the store. Wood also claims he was
forced to drive Reneau away from the crime scene at gunpoint. Wood’s
actions before the murder, namely sitting in a car unarmed and unaware
that another person was going to commit a robbery, does not constitute
reckless indifference to human life.<br />
<br />
Even many supporters of
capital punishment agree that the Texas law of parties is wholly unfair.
In 2009, the Texas Moratorium Network and Wood’s family led an advocacy
campaign to end the death penalty for people convicted under the law of
parties. The Republican-controlled Texas House overwhelmingly voted in
favor of the bill. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate after Gov.
Perry threatened to veto it. Last year, the House Committee on Criminal
Jurisprudence voted again in favor of a bill to exclude the death
penalty as punishment in law of parties cases. However, the session
ended without an opportunity for a floor vote.<br />
<br />
The Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles should recommend that the governor commute Wood’s
death sentence to life in prison or a lesser term consistent with Wood’s
level of participation in the crime. They have made that recommendation
in similar cases, including those of Kenneth Foster in 2007 and Robert
Thompson in 2009.<br />
<br />
Wood might deserve punishment for driving away
from the crime scene, but he does not deserve to die. He has never taken
a human life with his own hands.<br />
<span class="premium-auth-toggled"></span><br />
<div class="article-post-blurb">
<span class="premium-auth-toggled">Hedayati
is an attorney and a member of the Texas Moratorium Network Board of
Directors. For more information visit: SaveJeffWood.com.</span></div>
<span class="premium-auth-toggled">
</span>Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-92099664441658610282016-07-21T18:26:00.000-07:002016-07-21T18:26:05.892-07:00Help Texas Man Set for Execution Under Law of Parties – Jeff Wood Did Not Kill Anyone<em><span class="categories sc"></span> </em> <br />
<div class="entry_wrap fix">
<div class="entry_content">
<a href="http://www.texasmoratorium.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/terribeen.jpg"><img alt="terribeen" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2857" height="160" src="http://www.texasmoratorium.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/terribeen-300x160.jpg" width="300" /></a>Jeff
Wood is scheduled for execution in Texas on August 24, 2016 under the
law of parties even though he did not kill anyone. We need to persuade
the Texas governor and members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
to commute Jeff’s death sentence. I have known Jeff’s family for many
years. His sister Terri Been is leading the effort to #savejeffwood. She
has testified to the Texas Legislature to ban executions under the Law
of Parties and spoken out many times to save her brother from an unjust
execution.<br />
We created <a href="https://www.change.org/p/governor-abbott-and-the-texas-board-of-pardons-and-parole-demand-justice-for-jeff-wood-5807b015-014a-4a21-8c6e-e34be865c27c?recruiter=12756&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink">a petition to David G. Gutiérrez, Chair, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott</a>, which says:<br />
“We are petitioning to save Jeff Wood from unjustly being put to
death by the state of Texas on August 24, 2016 for a murder he did not
commit. Jeff was charged under the controversial Law of Parties. He was
not the shooter in this crime, nor was he even in the building when the
shooting took place. This unjust law states that even though a
co-defendant may not have killed anyone, he can still face the death
penalty, because of the actions of another person.<br />
The actual shooter in this case, Daniel Reneau, has already been executed by the state of Texas.”<br />
<strong>Four things to do:</strong><br />
<strong>1) Will you sign our petition? <a href="https://www.change.org/p/governor-abbott-and-the-texas-board-of-pardons-and-parole-demand-justice-for-jeff-wood-5807b015-014a-4a21-8c6e-e34be865c27c?recruiter=12756&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink" target="_blank" title="">Click here to add your name</a>.</strong><br />
<strong> 2) You can also <a href="https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/campaign-to-save-jeff-wood-from-texas-execution/x/585173" target="_blank" title="">donate to the clemency campaign</a>.
We have about two months to move the public, the governor and the Board
of Pardons and Paroles and we need about $1,000 for the clemency
campaign.</strong><br />
<strong>3) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/559094124270662/">Attend the rally July 23</a> at the Texas Governor’s Mansion in Austin.</strong><br />
<strong>4) Write a clemency letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and to Governor Greg Abbott.</strong> Send the letters separately to each of their addresses.<br />
David Gutiérrez, Presiding Officer Board of Pardons and Paroles,
Executive Clemency Section 8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Austin, TX 78757<br />
Governor Gregg Abbott, Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, Texas 78711-2428<br />
<div class="stats-column sidebar-section">
For background information, you can <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/4568017/Clemency-Petition-for-Jeff-Wood-to-Texas-Governor-and-Board-of-Pardons-and-Paroles" target="_blank" title="">read the petition submitted to the Board of Pardons and Paroles in 2008</a>,
when Jeff was granted a stay of execution. There will be a new one
submitted soon, but this one from 2008 is useful for learning more about
the case.</div>
<div class="story-column">
<div class="story-intro story-content">
On July 23, we will hold a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/559094124270662/" target="_blank" title="">rally at the Texas Governor’s Mansion</a>.<br />
In 2009, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill that would
have banned executions of people convicted under the law of parties. The
bill died in the Senate. It will be introduced again in the next
legislative session in January 2017.<br />
Jeff’s case is similar to Kenneth Foster’s, whose death sentence was
commuted in 2007 by Governor Rick Perry after many people wrote clemency
letters and more than 17,000 people signed a petition urging Perry to
commute the death sentence, since Foster had not killed anyone. He was
sentenced under the law of parties.<br />
There have been only <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/those-executed-who-did-not-directly-kill-victim" target="_blank" title="">ten executions in the U.S</a>. of people convicted under law of parties statutes. Five of those people were executed in Texas.<br />
Terri Been wrote on Facebook:<br />
<blockquote>
I humbly ask you to help my family by taking a few
minutes of your time to read a few facts regarding Jeff’s case and to
sign his petition that we will be sending the governor! While you are on
Jeff’s Web Page, I also ask that you take an extra minute or two to
look at the other information we have in the how you can help section.
For those of you who are familiar with Kenneth Foster’s case (which is
very similar to Jeff’s case) it took their family over 17,000 messages
to the Governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to get his sentence
commuted to Life. This was accomplished by sending petitions, faxes,
letters, and by making phone calls. I am eternally grateful for every
single signature, but I need more. I need calls, letters and faxes to go
along with the petition signatures.<br />
I humbly ask that you help my family. Jeff is my baby brother and he
did not kill anybody! Please ask yourselves what you would do if you
were in my situation. What lengths would you go to if this was your
family member?</blockquote>
<u>Short case summary:</u> At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Jan. 2,
1996, while Wood waited outside, Reneau entered the gas station with a
gun and pointed it at Kris Keeran, the clerk standing behind the
counter. Reneau ordered him to a back room. When he did not move quickly
enough, Reneau fired one shot with a 22 caliber handgun that struck
Keeran between the eyes. Death was almost instantaneous. Proceeding with
the robbery, Reneau went into the back office and took a safe. When
hearing the shot, Wood got out of the car to see what was going on. He
walked by the door and looked through the glass. Then he went inside,
and he looked over the counter and ran to the back, where Reneau was.
Wood was then ordered, at gun point by Reneau, to get the surveillance
video and to drive the getaway-car.<br />
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-jeff-wood-from-texas?source=c.url&r_by=15789699" target="_blank" title="">Sign the petition, please</a>.<br />
Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137 (1987), is a United States Supreme
Court case in which the Court applied the proportionality principle to
conclude that the death penalty was an appropriate punishment for a
felony murderer who was a major participant in the underlying felony and
exhibited a reckless indifference to human life.<br />
If it goes to the Court again in the Wood case, they should be asked
to find that enough change has occurred in public opinion since 1987
that there is now a national consensus that the death penalty should be
banned in law of parties cases.<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-60175916573182232862016-03-24T12:39:00.001-07:002016-04-07T20:46:06.951-07:00TX executes mentally ill man for murder of officer<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #2672ec;">Good article by a Sam Houston State University student for the college paper about </span><span style="color: #2672ec;">A</span><span style="color: #2672ec;">dam Ward, a mentally ill man, who was executed last night. Thankfully he wouldn't allow his parents, Nancy and Ralph Ward, to witness the execution as they were having a very difficult time with l</span><span style="color: #2672ec;">os</span><span style="color: #2672ec;">ing their only son.</span><span style="color: #2672ec;"> </span><span style="color: #2672ec;">T</span><span style="color: #2672ec;">wo Abolition Movement members</span><span style="color: #2672ec;"> who had known them for many years,</span><span style="color: #2672ec;"> Angie and Gloria, met them afterward and offered condolences </span><span style="color: #2672ec;">at the local church where the funeral home takes the body so family and friends can say good-bye. Kathy Cox, a former Salvation Army minis</span><span style="color: #2672ec;">ter, witnessed he execution, as she had known the Wards and visited their son for many years and was staying with them in Huntsville.</span><span style="color: #2672ec;"> His mom, Nancy, collapsed several times as she wailed and touched her son's warm yet lifeless body. It was such an emotional, yet needless scene--another reason for the end of the death penalty.</span></span></i><br />
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<header style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://houstonianonline.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Houstonian" class="CToWUd" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjAgSHgvXb8Gz41CPy_r6mQX1jnpkcb4vlMGLpc-8glimqP8kZ2A-jEw9hkQaMuV7BMZlTqnB6X6dzTFnfJsrUgnI_z5WKRrdQelURzEf528SSrYp5zw1yW1XOGUAOGeSTWAqn2_nN7qs23v0p7TK6UAtmedUckYb5MJTJOx3mNSFncnEgqC6A2ML3FXQU=s0-d-e1-ft" width="627" /></a><br /><time>March 23, 2016</time></header><br />
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<aside><a href="http://houstonianonline.com/category/news/" style="background: rgb(221, 51, 51); color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" title="News">News</a></aside><br />
<h1>
TX executes mentally ill man for murder of officer</h1>
</div>
<aside>By <strong><a href="http://houstonianonline.com/byline/kevin-fenner/" rel="tag" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Kevin Fenner</a></strong>, March 22, 2016</aside><div>
<br />
Despite arguments that he was ineligible for the death penalty due to his severe mental illness, <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_433565849" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday</span></span> night the state of Texas executed Adam Ward for the 2005 murder of a code enforcement officer.<br />
<br />
Ward insists he was defending himself when he fatally shot code enforcement officer Michael Walker, who was taking photos of possible code violations outside the Ward family home in Commerce, about 65 miles north of Dallas.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ward, 33, was put to death by lethal injection March 22 at the Huntsville Unit, just one street block away from the Sam Houston State University campus. Outside the nation’s most active execution chamber, 15 to 20 protestors stood holding signs opposing capital punishment and held public prayers.<br />
<br />
<br />
Danielle Allen of Cleveland, TX is also a code enforcement officer and was outside protesting the execution, despite the death of another officer.<br />
<br />
<br />
“The man’s obviously mentally ill,” Allen said. “He’s delusional. I understand we’re government officers and that makes his murder a Capital offense, but how can we put this boy to death? Why does it have to be the death penalty and not life in prison? What’s more killing going to solve?”<br />
<br />
<br />
Ward is the ninth person executed this year and the fifth inmate executed in Texas; 535 inmates have been executed in Texas since 1976.<br />
<br />
<br />
Walker, 44, began taking pictures of the Ward’s family home to document code violations resulting from the piles of junk outside the house which led to an argument between Walker and Ward, then 22.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ward intervened and told Walker to leave the property. Walker waited nearby after calling for assistance, but he was unaware that Ward had gone inside the house to grab his gun.<br />
<br />
<br />
Walker died after sustaining nine gunshot wounds from Ward’s .45 caliber pistol. Ward confessed to the murder soon after, stating that he shot Walker because he feared for his life.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ward’s parents were not present at the execution at the request of Ward who said he did not want his parents there to witness his death, according to Gloria Ruback of Houston, who stood holding an “abolish the death penalty” sign outside the prison.<br />
<br />
<br />
“He has two parents who love and adore him,” Ruback said, who spoke with Ward’s parents last week. “All this execution is doing – just like with all of the other children Texas has murdered – is creating more victims, more pain and suffering.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Last week, Ward’s lawyers filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the high court to overturn a March 16 decision from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal’s denying a stay of execution for Ward.<br />
<br />
<br />
In the appeal, his lawyers argued that Ward committed a murder because he suffered from “delusions and paranoia fed by his disabling bipolar disorder” dating back to his childhood.<br />
<br />
<br />
“That’s one of the surest ways to avoid a death penalty is to have your client found not mentally competent or mentally sane and then they can’t execute you according to the Supreme Court,” Criminal Justice professor and capital punishment expert Dennis Longmire, Ph.D., said. “But it’s very, very rare that somebody avoids any punishment in Texas, much less the death penalty as a result of mental<br />
<br />
incapacity.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Longmire said southerners tend to believe in the death penalty and make little exceptions, including mental illness.<br />
<br />
<br />
“In Texas and the south in general, it’s just not part of the culture to recognize that somebody might be so mentally ill that they can’t be held responsible for their actions.” He said. “It’s very, very hard to get people to think about the nature of the crime or offense rather than feel it.”<br />
<br />
<br />
From age three, Ward was prescribed psychiatric medicines to address his aggressive and destructive behavior. After spending two and a half months in a psychiatric unit when he was four-years-old, Ward was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to the appeal.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ward’s mental illness continued to plague him as he began school, the appeal argued. By the time Ward was in second grade, his school had built a “Time Out Box” – a small, padded isolation room – specifically for him.<br />
<br />
<br />
According to a neuropsychological evaluation in middle school, Ward suffered from “rage episodes,” during which he was unmanageable for an hour or more, had a low frustration toleration and a high level of insecurity and tendency to interpret incoming information as persecutory.<br />
<br />
<br />
Court documents described Ward’s father, Ralph Ward, as a hoarder who filled the family’s home with piles of junk and an arsenal of guns and ammunitions. Both father and son suffered from shared delusions and paranoia.<br />
<br />
<br />
The two delusional men believed the city of Commerce was out to get their family and the government was controlled by the “Illuminati.” However, court documents revealed the Ward family had in fact received numerous city code violations for junk piled inside and outside the house.<br />
<br />
<br />
“Ward’s aggressive and antisocial behavior continued and escalated through adolescence and into adulthood, culminating in him fatally shooting Code Enforcement Officer Michael Walker on June 13, 2005,” Ward’s appeal argued.<br />
<br />
<br />
His lawyers argued in the appeal that Ward’s mental illness is “so severe, so well-documented, and so deeply present in Mr. Ward’s entire life as to make him constitutionally ineligible for execution.”<br />
<br />
<br />
The Supreme Court has ruled that mentally ill prisoners, generally defined as those with an IQ below 70, may still be executed if they understand they are about to be put to death and why they face punishment. According to the state’s lawyers, evidence showed Ward’s IQ was nearly 123.<br />
<br />
<br />
“To qualify as Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity by virtue of mental disease or defect he has to either not understand the wrongfulness of what he’s doing or not be able to control himself even if he knows it’s wrong…that’s the mental illness,” Longmire said.<br />
<br />
<br />
According to Longmire, the type of people who commit heinous crimes such that of Ward are largely the product of two factors: rage and guns.<br />
<br />
<br />
“[They’re] in a moment of total rage and situational loss of control… he is enraged and that’s all he’s got,” he said. “So you put together the availability of guns and a general sense of rage and anger, and you’ve got a powder keg.”<br />
<br />
<br />
According to Longmire, Ward is not the type of person who has the mental capacity to commit premeditated murder.<br />
“In order for someone to able to stop and deliberately say ‘I am going to kill someone’ and do it with pleasure and a sense of purpose, you’ve got to work for the State of Texas and you’ve got to be on the execution team because that’s what they do,” he said.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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</article>Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-18252991667679855852015-07-09T11:14:00.000-07:002015-07-09T11:14:11.757-07:00Rally for Bernardo Tercero Today at 11 am<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_174543906" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">July 9, 2015</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span><b>PRESS ADVISORY</b><span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span>Contact: Gloria Rubac<span> </span><a href="tel:713-503-2633" target="_blank" value="+17135032633">713-503-2633</a></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span>Friends
and Supporters of Death Row Prisoner Bernardo Tercero to Rally Outside of
Nicaraguan Consulate; Will Urge the Consul General to Increase Efforts to Stop
Tercero’s <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_174543907" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">August 26</span></span> Execution</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span>Friends and supporters of Nicaraguan
citizen Bernardo Tercero will rally outside of the Nicaraguan consulate today
at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_174543908" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">11:00 am</span></span>, 8989 Westheimer Rd., 77063, to encourage the consul general to intensify
efforts to stop Tercero’s August 26<sup>th</sup> execution in Huntsville. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span>There are many troubling issues
in Tercero’s case that must be settled before Texas carries out this execution. Among them are:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span><span>1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span>Tercero
was actually 17 years old when arrested for capital murder which would make him
ineligible for the death penalty according to the Supreme Court’s <i>Roper v Simmons</i> ruling in 2005 that
declared juveniles ineligible for the death penalty.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"><span>2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;">Despite
the fact that he specifically requested to speak with the Nicaraguan
Consulate and the authorities had full knowledge of Tercero's status as a
foreign national, they denied him his right under the Vienna Convention of
Consular Relations (VCCR, article 36).</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"></span></strong></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"><span>3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></em><span><span>Tercero had
totally incompetent trial attorneys. </span></span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">Rather than use the funding
provided by the court to have a knowledgeable professional assist in obtaining
records and conducting a background and mitigation investigation
in Nicaragua, attorneys instead refunded $8,449.42 of the $21,000 in funds
to Harris County. </span></em><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;"></span></em></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 40.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span><span><span>4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">Although the trial court approved Tercero’s counsel’s request for a
forensic psychologist in February of 2000, counsel did not attempt to contact
a psychologist until September 29, 2000, less than two weeks before
Tercero’s trial was set to begin. No psychological testing was ever done, nor
was any psychological or other expert evidence, records, or testimony
offered at trial.</span></em><span><span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
British attorney
Peter Bellamy and Tercero petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to intervene in this case.<span> </span>Bellamy
was notified on July 6 that the IACHR accepted the petition on its merits and
will investigate the case. The IACHR has renewed the "protective
measures" status of Bernardo which imposes responsibilities on US
authorities not to carry out the execution pending the outcome of the
Commission’s investigation of Bernardo's petition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span>There have been multiple systemic failures in Tercero’s case,
beginning with his arrest and continuing today—a lack of due process at every
stage of prosecution, defense, and post trial appeal. Until there is a remedy
to these, Bernardo's sentence must not be carried out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span>We urge the</span><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"> Honorable Samuel Trejos</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">,
</span></strong>Consul General of Nicaragua, to step up and defend his fellow
countryman, Bernardo Tercero, before anymore injustices take place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
-30-</div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-21770578722322457382015-07-07T06:53:00.000-07:002015-07-07T06:53:43.849-07:00Judicial vacancies slow judicial system<div class="entry">
Perhaps no one can appreciate the importance of quick access to
our federal courts more than death-row inmate Max Soffar. By the time
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on his habeas petition in
support of his claim of innocence, he might have already died of liver
cancer. The fact that the Fifth Circuit, which has jurisdiction to hear
appeals from the federal district courts in Texas, has had two vacancies
for the past 18 months will not help him either. The first vacancy
opened three years ago, in August 2012, and the second in December 2013.
No other circuit court in the country has more vacancies than the
Fifth.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have
consistently opposed potential nominations of qualified district judges.
And though it was Republicans who originally recommended these judges
for the vacant positions, Sens. Cornyn and Cruz have shown little
interest in recommending nominees to the White House to fill an
additional seven district court vacancies. The Judicial Conference of
the United States, headed by Chief Justice John Roberts, has marked the
two circuit vacancies, and five of the seven district court vacancies,
as a <em>Judicial Emergency</em>. This designation implies that the
courts’ current caseload is both excessive and unmanageable. Even if
these seats are filled tomorrow, the Conference has asked Congress to
add eight new judgeships for the Texas district courts.<br />
<br />
What’s the hold up, you ask? Political partisanship and a reluctance
to promote Obama appointees to federal courts is responsible.
Historically, due to the time required to identify, nominate, and
confirm judicial replacements, many federal judges announce their plan
to step down up to a year in advance, giving Senators plenty of time to
recommend their replacements. Unfortunately, in almost all cases, our
Senators have wasted many months after the vacancy to even begin the
replacement process. For instance, more than a year in advance of his
January 2014 vacancy, Judge Robert Junell of the Western District of
Texas announced on the US Courts website that he would be taking a
senior status .. Yet, Sens. Cornyn and Cruz waited more than a year,
until April 2015, to begin their search process. This was not the
approach taken under previous administrations. While George W. Bush was
president, and after Cornyn was elected, five district court judges gave
notices to vacate their seats well in advance of the official vacancy.
Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Texas’ sitting senators at the time,
made recommendations to Bush well before the vacancy became current. So
are we to assume that, yet again, Sens. Cornyn and Cruz are dithering at
the expense of Texans?<br />
<br />
Having fully staffed courts are imperative for the innocent inmates
challenging their wrongful conviction, the victims and their families
who have waited years for closure, and the injured plaintiffs and
consumers seeking a redress. In contrast, a deliberately sluggish
federal court system with a crushing backlog of cases provides golden
opportunities for large corporations to manipulate the system, using the
painfully slow litigation process to force parties into hasty
settlements. .<br />
Texans deserve their day in court, but as long as Sens. Cornyn and
Cruz continue to dilly-dally, ignoring their constitutional duty of
sending nominations to the President, Texans will suffer at the expense
of a bureaucratic logjam.<br />
<br />
A version of this commentary was published in the San Antonio-Express
News on July 6, 2015. The published version can be accessed <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Judicial-vacancies-slow-judicial-system-6363744.php">here </a>and <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Judicial-vacancies-slow-judicial-system-6363744.php">here</a>.<br />
<br />
For more information on judicial vacancies visit <a href="http://whycourtsmatter.org/">whycourtsmatter.org</a> and <a href="http://www.pfaw.org/category/topics/judicial-vacancies">People for the American Way</a>.<br />
</div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-27216535331575714402015-07-03T17:01:00.000-07:002015-07-03T17:01:08.418-07:00 Help Texas Death Row Survivor Alfred Dewayne Brown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/help-texas-death-row-survivor-alfred-dewayne-brown/x/585173" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2YnpIApYAtJBmcuVnwWxrqwhYPjHtTJLobiCVctPVTkba3S0elvSJgnb3mT2FKLMvVPq-BiM8Z_tWT_4irJWeU18ZCXP9fqCiXwoYzi0uTDejHqR0r6EcwJiWAxP5b4YMi2ySpA/s400/n1edq2sf8jlkxqcrd9gs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
After more than ten years on Texas death row for a crime he did not
commit, Alfred Dewayne Brown walked free and into the loving arms of his
family and friends on June 8, 2015. "I went in an innocent man and I
came out an innocent man," said Brown. Now, he needs your help so that
he can rebuild his life. Every donation makes a difference. <a href="https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/help-texas-death-row-survivor-alfred-dewayne-brown/x/585173">Will you please help him?</a><br />
<br /><a href="http://igg.me/at/l7DwHJgB3ww">CLICK HERE TO DONATE.</a><br /><br />Dewayne's life changed forever on April 3, 2003.
It was on that day that Dewayne was falsely accused of a horrible
crime which resulted in two deaths. Despite the fact that Dewayne tried
to tell the Houston, Texas police that he was at home during the
incident, they chose to believe two men who did not want to turn in
their buddy, so they "fingered" Dewayne. A series of events took place
that Dewayne could not control. He told anyone and everyone that he was
home and the landline phone records would prove it because he had called
his then girlfriend at work when the news came on. It was these phone
records that would be the pivotal point in the release of Dewayne. The
Grand Jury argued with Dewayne and threatened his girlfriend with jail
time and with taking her children away from her if she did not change
her story. She buckled, the DA hid the phone records and Dewayne was
sent to Death Row. <br /><br />Despite the fact he kept telling his trial
attorney he was innocent and the phone records would prove it, nothing
was presented at trial. It was only after the conviction of the two
actual defendants and Dewayne ending up on the infamous Texas Death
Row, that several people came forward, admitting to lying and telling
the DA that Dewayne was not even aware of the crime. <br /><br />Nothing
impressed the Harris County DA and Dewayne was left with the thought of
lethal injection for a crime he had nothing to do with. Appeals were
filed and in 2007, the law firm of K&L Gates took the case, honing
in on the lost phone records. It took the attorneys six years to find
them - IN THE GARAGE OF AN INVESTIGATOR. The DA in 2007 stated that
failure to disclose the records "was inadvertent and not in bad faith.
It was one piece of paper". The trial judge signed orders for a new
trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the conviction and
ordered a new trial in November 2014. <br /><br />Lisa Falkenberg, a
columnist for the Houston Chronicle, took notice of Dewayne and wrote a
series of articles concerning his case and the Grand Jury. Making waves
around the world and <a href="http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2015-Commentary">winning the coveted Pulitzer Prize</a>
for her series, Ms. Falkenberg has shed light on the barbaric Grand
Jury system in Harris County, from threatening witnesses to using
ex-cops to serve as foreman (on nine juries). It took the new DA, Devon
Anderson, seven months and two days, to announce that Harris County has
no evidence to bring charges against Dewayne and he should be set free.
<br /><br />Dewayne spent 12 years, 2 months and 5 days behind bars for
something he had no part in. That is 4,449 days or 106,776 hours of his
life that was stolen from him. Nearly every one of those days were
spent in solitary in a cell no larger that a small bathroom. Living
with the fact that he could be executed any day. Torn away from his
family, not being able to be a father to his daughter. For this, the
State of Texas needs to compensate Dewayne. But, because of the
"clever" wording in the paperwork when Devon Anderson declared that
Harris County has no evidence against Dewayne, it will be an uphill
battle to win compensation. A battle that will not be won any time
soon. <br /><br /><b>This is where the people of the world come in.
Dewayne needs your help now to get on his feet. He needs to rebuild his
life that Harris County and the State of Texas stripped from him.
Going straight from solitary to the "free world" is no easy task. He
needs time to adjust being able to make decisions on his own, at a pace
that is comfortable to him. We can never give these years back to
Dewayne. But, we can help him manage more comfortably.<a href="https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/help-texas-death-row-survivor-alfred-dewayne-brown/x/585173"> Please give what you can</a>. Everything makes a difference.</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/DA-6314119.php" target="_blank">Read more about the day Dewayne was released here.</a> <br /><br />This
fundraiser is being conducted with the consent of Dewayne Brown, who
will receive all funds raised, minus the 3 percent charged by the credit
card processing company. We have also obtained consent from Dewayne's
legal team. While Indiegogo Life doesn’t charge a fee, payments are
handled by third-party processors who charge a 3% transaction fee. <br /><br />At
the end of the 30 day campaign, the donations will be transferred
directly from the life.indiegogo.com system to a bank account set up by
Dewayne's legal team for his exclusive benefit.<br /><br />The fundraiser
organizers are a group of Texas death penalty abolitionists who want to
help Dewayne. Organizers include Pat Hartwell, Scott Cobb, Hooman
Hedayati, Gloria Rubac, and Delia Perez Meyer, as well as the
organizations <a href="http://texasmoratorium.org/">Texas Moratorium Network</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/272306331224/">Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NationalCEDP">Campaign to End the Death Penalty</a>, and others to be listed as they endorse the fundraiser.Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-22978103599824625592015-03-16T07:58:00.001-07:002015-03-16T07:58:28.235-07:00Historic Texas Senate Bill Filed to Abolish Death Penalty in Texas<span class="im"></span><br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
<a href="http://www.texasmoratorium.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/11-Eddie-Lucio-MUG_1176019a-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="11-Eddie-Lucio-MUG_1176019a (1)" class="CToWUd" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhl1aYKve2qgXkEsWNVoPfxNOSfcaf6wmrJbgoMxs2poIdXBIM5Py1JLzDf53z20udxnXjJuIOtmyzUatT78xIeEYoWnK869nFgY1KLb8OHo5LFwqFW6mQdqtTE-L325Og15obuRTpdRj0mG2niyn-VTyg_OI-nzJAFs8jhaPSNq8fiqopdvQ2sQniS0iR4ftI-ID4OjNZH4ABs3_roFQ=s0-d-e1-ft" width="249" /></a> </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
Texas <a href="http://www.lucio.senate.state.tx.us/" target="_blank">State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr</a> has
filed legislation to abolish the death penalty in Texas. This is the
first time a state senator has ever filed legislation to abolish the
death penalty in Texas. It happened because organizations in Texas held
the Statewide Texas Lobby Day to Abolish the Death Penalty on March 3
and death row survivors Ron Keine and Sabrina Butler from <a href="http://witnesstoinnocence.org/" target="_blank">Witness to Innocence</a> and Scott Cobb of <a href="http://texasmoratorium.org/" target="_blank">Texas Moratorium Network</a> met with Senator Lucio's general counsel and requested that the Senator file abolition legislation. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
Here is a <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ex-death-row-inmates-push-to-end-texas-executions/nkM7R/" target="_blank">report from the Austin American-Statesman</a> on our successful lobby day, which was widely covered in the media, including the <a href="http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/death-penalty-opponents-take-uphill-battle-to-end-executions-to-texas-capitol.html/" target="_blank">Dallas Morning News</a>, potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of people in Texas with our message. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
Last
summer, Senator Lucio attended the Democrats Against the Death Penalty
caucus at the Texas Democratic Party state convention. The caucus has
been held every year since 2004 when it was started by Scott Cobb. The
caucus has proven to be an effective method for persuading Texas
Democrats to make abolishing the death penalty a higher priority among
both elected officials and ordinary people in the Texas Democratic
Party. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
In
the coming weeks, we will be working with Senator Lucio's staff as well
as staff of the House sponsor of the abolition bill, to prepare for
committee hearings on the abolition bills. When a hearing is held in the
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, it will be the first time ever
for a hearing on abolishing the death penalty in Texas. It will be up to
the chair of the committee to decide if a hearing is scheduled.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
Here are links to the two pieces of legislation filed by Senator Lucio. One is a regular bill (<a href="http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=SB1661" target="_blank">SB 1661</a>) and the other is a proposed constitutional amendment (<a href="http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=SJR54" target="_blank">SJR 54</a>).</div>
<span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Thank you to all the groups and people from across Texas who participated in the lobby day, including <a href="http://texasmoratorium.org/" target="_blank">Texas Moratorium Network</a>, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/272306331224" style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" target="_blank">Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement</a><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">, </span><a href="http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/" style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" target="_blank">Campaign to End the Death Penalty</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/stopexecutions" style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" target="_blank">Students Against the Death Penalty</a>, and <a href="http://witnesstoinnocence.org/" target="_blank">Witness to Innocence</a>.Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-88921119104758357632015-02-10T09:27:00.002-08:002015-02-10T09:27:49.822-08:00A Conversation with Sandra and Rodrick Reed<div style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<em>Rodney
Reed’s family has been at the forefront of a 17 year struggle to prove
his innocence and win his freedom from Texas’ death row. Recently,
Rodney’s mother Sandra, and brother Rodrick, <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/new_abolitionist/december-2014-issue-62/conversation-sandra-and-rodrick-reed" target="_blank">sat down to talk</a> with Lily
Hughes about their disappointment in the courts, the need for DNA
testing, and the pain of facing an execution date.</em></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
------------------------------<wbr></wbr>------------------------------<wbr></wbr>-------</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>THERE'S
A clemency process that's already started, and we hope that you will
have an opportunity to meet with the new governor, Greg Abbott, or
perhaps members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, to talk to them
about why they should grant clemency. What you would say to the governor
if you did get a chance to meet with him face to face?</strong> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
What we've been saying all along! Rodney is an innocent man. He was
wrongfully convicted. He didn't get a fair trial, and they used Jim Crow
tactics to convict him. It's not that they use Jim Crow tactics with
every trial, but they used it with him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
We
just want the new DNA testing. We want the truth. That's all we're
asking. The only evidence that was presented was his DNA, and it was
old. And you have nothing else--I mean nothing to link him to this case.
How is it that you have enough merit to take a life--over old DNA? He
was dating her!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
There
was a box of evidence that Judge Towslee ordered sealed--locked away.
We never knew what that was until recently. Now, at this last hearing,
there were two boxes when there should have been one, and they both were
unsealed. That, to me, spells corruption. All I'm asking for is
fairness. Give my son a fair shake. He never had a fair shake in the
beginning. That's all we're asking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
And
from my point of view, no matter what, you still shouldn't take a life.
Thou shalt not kill. What happened to the Ten Commandments? That's all I
have to say. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
I would say to him that we just want to be treated the way he would
want his own treated. We want the same thing he would expect if he were
in our shoes. Fairness. Equality. We're not asking for anything special.
We're not asking for anything out of the ordinary. We're just asking
for what's right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
And if you have thousands of people out here who believe in him, what
does that say? There is a shadow of a doubt...Twelve jurors were
deceived. I still don't know how they thought they had enough to do what
they did, but I do believe they were deceived. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>RECENTLY,
AT a hearing here in Bastrop in front of the trial judge, he denied
important DNA testing. And of course, there's been a string of denials
from the courts over the years, whether it's the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals or the Fifth U.S. Circuit of Appeals and, more recently, the
U.S. Supreme Court. How has that affected your view of the court system
and the way the criminal justice system operates? </strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
I've told people over the years that I was very naïve as far as the
justice system is concerned. I thought that if anything went wrong, all
we had to do was take it to court, because that's what the United States
stands for: fairness without a shadow of a doubt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
But when it came down to my son's case and the hearing and the way the trial went, it just went plumb Jim Crow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
There
were witnesses waiting to testify, but never called. They made me a
possible witness for the prosecution and never called me. The judge
denied the alibi witness from testifying. And sitting there during that
process, there was nothing I could do. I had no knowledge of the law
itself, I didn't have the funds, and I was denied the ability to testify
for my son.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
It
felt like I was chained and bound. There was nothing I could do but
stand there and watch them railroad my son. Over these last years--17 or
18 years of fighting--I have to say: Thank god for the Campaign to End
the Death Penalty. Because you guys know what's going on and what
happened to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
You
wouldn't have known what happened to Rodney if you hadn't been
concerned about right and wrong, and what did happen. And I am a proud
member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
Traveling
over the years, and speaking and meeting exonerees from death row and
other family members speaking out--that encouraged me to keep right on
fighting for my son. This proved to me that the United States has
defrauded all of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
They
painted this so-called justice system with rose colors and made us
think that we would get a fair shake. And being Black, you have that
mark against you. Looking back at Martin Luther King and how he fought
for our rights, I thought, well, we have our rights now. But I realize
we don't. We never had equality. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>AND THE courts have completely failed us</strong>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: The courts have completely failed us. Right. Absolutely. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>SO WOULD you say that winning justice from the system requires taking MLK's route? </strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
It's a hard row to hoe, especially when racism is still rampant. Things
are better on the surface, but within, it's still there, and it still
hurts. It still affects people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
It's
undercover slavery. That's what I feel. The government is building all
of these prisons. Why? And most of the people are minorities. The
justice they're carrying out is legalized murder. Murder is murder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
Yet
we're willing to sacrifice our young men and boys to go over and fight
for somebody else's rights. And we don't have our own backyard cleaned
up? We're killing our own. That's what I got out of this--there's no
justice in this so-called justice system that we have.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: There's some justice, just us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>RODRICK, DID you have anything else you wanted to add about the courts?</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
Yes. I believe the courts are very, very misleading, because you think
that justice will be blind and everyone should get a fair shake. But the
reality is that if you don't have the capital, you're going to get the
punishment. If you're poor, you're not going to get proper
representation. If you're mentally handicapped in any kind of way,
you're not going to get a fair shake, and that's not right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
So
the bottom line is that there's a lot of work to be done in the justice
system, and it's not going to happen until we come together and use
what we have to make it better. In cases like my brother's case, once we
bring him home--which I pray that's the way it goes--then the fight
keeps going. That racism, that injustice, that corruption is still
there. And that's the roots that we have to try to dig up. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>SWITCHING
SUBJECTS, I think that both of you have been down to see Rodney fairly
recently, and we were wondering if you could talk about how he's
handling everything?</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
I haven't seen him since the hearing, because there have been other
people, such as his sons, who have been visiting. I wanted them to have
as much visitation as they could, because over these 18 years, he hadn't
seen his sons. When he was convicted, his sons were six or seven--maybe
not even that old. But they're now grown, and they have their own kids,
so they've been visiting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
His
granddaughter lives in California, and her mother put her on the plane,
and her father picked her up in Dallas--and wow, they just had a
wonderful, beautiful visit. Each visit was four hours. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_62361953" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Monday</span></span>, they got two visits in the same week for four hours, and I think that was wonderful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
So
I want those kids to visit as much as they can, and other people who
are in his corner and hadn't seen him. They needed to see him, and he
needed to see them. He only gets a one visit a week, and so that makes
it kind of tough. But he's strong. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: Yeah, he's real strong. He's real positive. You go down there with the expectation of trying to lift his spirits up, and... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: He lifts yours. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
He lifts yours. And I think it's all possible because of God, and all
his supporters and friends and family who believe in him and support
him. That keeps him strong, that keeps him positive, that keeps him
going. If it had been me, I'd be crazy as a bug, but he's strong. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
His support is strong, and his family, we're right there with him. If
he can just see our faces and see how strong we are, it keeps him
strong. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: We keep each other strong. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
He's doing as well as can be expected. And of course, our faith is
strong and I'm optimistic. Yet I have to face reality of how this
justice system has treated my son over these 18 years, with the denial
of everything. I'm hoping and praying. I can't see how, with all of this
information and evidence pointing to Rodney's innocence, Greg Abbott
would deny him clemency, but who's to say? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>THAT
BRINGS me to my next question. How are you all doing? I know this is
not an easy time, and it never is. What do you want to say about the
death penalty, and the way it creates a whole new set of victims? </strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: Myself, I'm tired. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: He's tired. We're all tired. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
I'm tired, but I'm strong. I'm going to keep my strength, and I'm going
to push on as far as I can and do all that I can do, and I'm going to
let God do the rest. But I think that it's very stressful. I've
aged--I've got more gray hair and a face full of gray. It has an
effect. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
All
in all, we're good. And I know it will get better. We all have points
where it's like, how much more can we take? How many more denials? How
many more years? How many more days?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
And on top of dealing with everyday life, I have six sons, and all of
them have their issues. Their issues are mine, and I worry. Not as much
as I used to when they was coming up. Now that they're in their 40s and
50s--- </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: Don't tell them my age! (laughter) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
I'm telling mine accidently! But, you know, when it rains it pours.
There's going to be times where everything happens at one time. But
we're maintaining. It's a struggle, but we're maintaining. And me being
the mother, words can't even express what I'm feeling now at this phase.
I could tell you but you wouldn't really know.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: The words can't describe it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: I can sit here and tell you right now how much I'm grateful to you guys, and the words aren't enough. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: They don't even do it justice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
Words can't even express what I'm feeling. At this phase of the game,
I'm strong. I'm optimistic. Knowing what this system has done to us, I
can't believe it until I see it now. I have to touch it now. So that's
the best I can do, but I'm praying to God that he gives me the strength
to endure whatever. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
Somebody told me yesterday, "I'm really proud of you for the work that
you do for your brother. I think you're doing a good thing. I'm so proud
of you." I looked at her and I said, "To be proud of me for doing
something for someone that I love is not a big deal. What moves me is
people who do something for someone they don't even know--a stranger." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
That's
what gives me strength. When we have people like you who are not
related, who didn't even know Rodney, but you came in and you gave up
your time and your money and everything you can give to help support us.
Because it's easy to do for someone that you love. Anybody does that.
But to do something for a stranger who you don't know even know--that
says it all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: But see, you're God's angels to me. I know we've discussed that before, but you are. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
He
assigned you, whether you believe in Him or not, to do this. It's His
work. Through you guys. Those petitions that we attempted to submit to
the DA! Eleven thousand signatures! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>AND NOW it's over fourteen thousand. </strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: The signatures of people who we don't know! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
That's what I'm saying. We have to be here. And if we're any kind of
good family and love our family, we have to do the things we have to do.
But for all the hundreds and thousands of people trying to help us,
that's something to be proud of. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: Because if it was up to our family, we would be screwed, glued and tattooed! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>THAT
BRINGS us to the last question: Is there anything that you want to say
to people who already support Rodney? What can people be doing right now
that helps the most? </strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>:
What helps the most is do what you've been doing. I thank each and
every one, the thousands and possibly millions of people that have
viewed that documentary State vs. Reed and took an interest. I thank
them all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>:
I thank you all, and I'm proud of you, because that's doing
something--when you're in a situation where you don't have to be, but
you chose to be in it. You chose to be in this fight. You can sit down
on the sidelines and watch it go down, but you said no. I stand up and
I'm going to represent. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: How long have we been in this together? Fifteen years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Rodrick</strong>: That means the world to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
<strong>Sandra</strong>: And I love all of you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 1em 0px;">
Read more at <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/new_abolitionist/december-2014-issue-62/conversation-sandra-and-rodrick-reed" target="_blank">the New Abolitionist</a>. </div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-49119070587525271402015-01-21T07:53:00.002-08:002015-01-21T07:53:58.903-08:00Arnold Prieto<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
Arnold
Prieto, 41, is scheduled today to be the first person executed under
Governor Greg Abbott. Arnold is a frequent contributor to the blog <a href="http://minutesbeforesix.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">minutesbeforesix.blogspot.com</a>,
where you can learn about him in his own words. He is deserving of a
commutation to life in prison, so call Gov Abbott and urge him to stop
today's execution:<br /> (512) 463-2000.<br />
<br /> by Arnold Prieto<br /> September 10th, 2014 12:48am<br />
Normally I would be fast asleep during these wee hours of the morning,
but instead I find myself typing out my following thoughts to you. My
night lamp is my only source of light, beaming down from its perch over
my head on my shelf, while the silence is booming its loudness
throughout this tomb all around me. I can hear someone’s radio so softly
that it gets lost in the silence and making it sound so small compared
to it .....<br />
Count time will be called out within the next couple
of seconds and the locking mechanism of the crash gate leading into the
death watch section will break the silence with its loud metal on metal
clanging sound. Soon, there will be a flash of light piercing our dark
cages. Well, semi-dark in my case, as if a lightening bolt struck within
our walls. The loud silence will once again reclaim its rightful place
as the thundering of closing doors echoes out with the guards passing
through the tomb with their infernal light.<br />
Within that silence, I
can hear the whooshing sound of Father Time's heavy pendulum swinging
with every passing second ..... tick.tick.tick.tick.tick.</div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-89153062485111738252014-12-12T13:42:00.003-08:002014-12-12T13:42:47.551-08:00SEND IN A LITTLE HOLIDAY CHEER TO PRISONERS<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;">As
you are filling out your holiday cards this winter, please remember the
men and women who will spend the holiday season behind bars. Opening a
holiday card and receiving greetings and words of encouragement from you
could really mean a lot to someone who has to spend the holidays away
from his or her family. </span><div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 12px;">Many
CEDPers host holiday card writing events, which is a great way to get
together in a more casual setting, make plans for the new year, and send
some holiday cheer into prison walls. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br /><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><b><span style="color: #990000;">PRISONER ADDRESSES</span></b><br />Here are some addresses of prisoners we have come to know through our work. You may want to add them to your holiday card list.<br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Death row prisoners:<br />Kevin Cooper, #C-65304, San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA 94974<br />Darrell Lomax PO Box K-27402 SQSP San Quentin, CA 94974<br />Keith Doolin #K 13400, S.Q.S.P. (4E-Y-25) Death Row, San Quentin, CA 94974<br />David Lee Thomas #A-717466#P61185# A-1, Union Correctional Institution, 7819 N.W. 228th St., Raiford, FL 32026-4000<br />Keith Gavin #Z-665, 3700 Holman Unit 8U4, Atmore, AL 36503<br />Siddique Abdullah Hasan #R130-559, Ohio State Penitentiary, 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd, Youngstown, OH 44505-4635</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Rodney Reed #999271, Polunsky Unit, 3872 F.M. 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351<br />Louis Castro Perez #999328 Polunsky Unit, 3872 F.M. 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">Jeff Wood #999256 Polunsky Unit, 3872 F.M. 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351 </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Rob Will #999402, Polunsky Unit, 3872 F.M. 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351<br />Christopher A. Young #999508, Polunsky Unit, 3872 FM 350 South, Livingston, TX 77351<br />Carlos A. Hawthorne Jr. #K-67900, San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA 94974</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">Correll Thomas P.O. Box P-55743 3-EY-6 San Quentin State Prison San Quentin, CA 94974</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Beth Markman #0G3739, P.O. Box 180, Muncy, PA 17756<br />Michelle Tharp #0F6593, P.O. Box 180, Muncy PA 17756<br />Shonda Walter #OJ8227, P.O. Box 180, Muncy, PA 17756<br />Darlie Routier #999220 2305 Ransom Road, Gatesville, TX 76528</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Christopher Erdman #1008950 #6 South 515 Fulton County Jail 901 Rice Street Atlanta, GA 30318</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Former death row prisoners who continue to be incarcerated, some with life without parole sentences: </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335 SCI Mahanoy, 301 Morea Road, Frackville, PA 17932</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">Kenneth Foster Jr. #1451768 Alfred Hughes Unit Route 2 Box 4400 Gatesville, TX 76597 </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Kenneth Collins #189948, MHC-X-C-7, Jessup, MD 20794</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Eugene Colvin-El #157345, MHC-X, P.O. Box 534, Jessup, MD 20794</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Stanley Howard #N71620, 2600 N. Brinton Ave, Dixon, IL 61021*</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Robert Gattis #188752 Unit-SHU17 JTVCC 1181 Paddock Rd Smyrna, DE 19977</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Vernon Evans #172357, North Branch Correctional Institution, 14100 McMullen HWY SW, Cumberland, MD 21502</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John Booth 170-921, </span><span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">North Branch Correctional Institution, 14100 McMullen HWY SW, Cumberland, MD 21502</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Timothy McKinney #10137763 Shelby County Jail 1-E-21 201 Poplar Drive Memphis, TN. 38103</span><span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-67102764317999028952014-11-13T08:09:00.001-08:002014-11-13T08:09:37.922-08:00DARBY TILLIS REMEMBERED<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">By Marlene Martin</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Sadly, our good friend and comrade in struggle Darby Tillis—the first exonerated Illinois death row prisoner in the modern era of the death penalty, passed away on Sunday November 10, at the age of 71. He was a steadfast fighter for abolition. After being released from prison in 1987, along with his co-defendant Perry Cobb, Darby spent the entire rest of his life fighting for justice. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">We will miss Darby terribly. To many of us, he was a teacher, someone who knew and could explain the criminal justice system from the inside out, and who worked passionately to expose it. Working alongside Darby in the Campaign to End the Death Penalty was an honor. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">His full name was Jesse “Darby” Tillis, but we all knew him as Darby.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">It was so easy to grow fond of Darby, even with all his quirks and bouts of stubbornness—qualities that must have helped him survive an unjust imprisonment on death row. Darby stood out in every way (it wasn’t just his name that was unique!) There was, for example, his signature attire: He always dressed all in black, often wearing a black cape, even in the summer, along with a black cap and black alligator boots. Instead of using the word prison, he would talk about the “the penitentiary for the poor.” Referring to the corruption in Chicago’s Cook County, he would instead call it “Crook County.” </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Darby was certainly one of a kind. For a long time, he drove around in an old limousine, and across the side, he had scrawled, “Thou shall not kill.” But Darby was no joke, and none of what he did was for laughs. He wanted to shock people into paying attention. This is why he once strode through downtown Chicago in an orange prison jumpsuit, complete with chains, carrying a bullhorn calling for abolition—he called these walks “The Death Row Shuffle.” He would do anything to draw attention to this cause. He was all guts, and spit fire.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">I heard Darby speak countless times over the years. In his characteristic low, raspy voice, Darby could hold audiences spellbound, telling them about how he had been “kidnapped, used and abused by the Illinois criminal justice system, and how he had been tried five times, “more than any other person in the history of the U.S.” (Actually, along with Darby and Perry, this unique distinction also belongs to the Scottsboro Boys, African American youth from Jim Crow Alabama who were falsely accused of rape.)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">I never heard Darby say he spent “nine years” in prison, or “just over nine years.” He always gave people the precise amount of time, each time he spoke: “nine years, one month and 17 days.” Why? I’m not sure, but I think that he wanted to make it clear he knew exactly what had been stolen from him. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">He was bitter about the years taken from him—how couldn’t he be—and you could feel that in him. And he wanted people to know those precious moments of his life—each and every day that was stolen—were times that he wasn’t with his mom when she passed or wasn’t able to help his daughter when she needed him. He wanted people to feel that—to try to have some understanding of what having part of their lives stolen is like. And he also wanted to make it known that he was keeping score. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Darby had been sent to prison by Judge Thomas Maloney, who was later found guilty of taking bribes to fix cases and was sent to prison for 15 years. Darby liked to include this fact in all of his presentations, too, since it’s so rare for a judge, prosecutors or police to face any consequences for sending the wrong people to prison or death row. At the end of one interview, Darby asked a journalist how it could be that the system was still doing the same exact thing it did to him all those many years ago—sending the wrong people to prison. He believed a big part of the reason it continued was because those who rule over the system never face any consequences for the miscarriages of justice they help to arrange.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">I first heard Darby speak at a forum put on by the International Socialist Organization in the early 1990s. The title of the panel was, “The War on Poverty”—Darby was asked to speak on the connection of the criminal justice system. I was blown away by what I heard. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">He was a street preacher, and he had the cadence, confidence and passion of the profession, but he also had something very unique, which was a relentless determination to hold the criminal injustice system accountable for the wrongs it had done to him and to so many others, and that it was still doing. He taught me, along with many others in the abolitionist community, so much about the unfair workings of the criminal justice system and its deep-seated racism. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Darby was at ground zero in the fight to win the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, which we achieved in 2011. He also traveled on our national speaking tours on many occasions, rousing the audience and imploring people to join him in the fight against this injustice.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">He talked tough, and he was, but he was also deeply compassionate, caring and gentle. I don’t think there was a single time that I talked with Darby when he didn’t first ask how my family was. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">He befriended family members who had loved ones in jail. He spent time with Martina Correia and Virginia Davis, the sister and mother of Troy Davis, the innocent Georgia death row prisoner who was executed in 2011. Darby drove to Atlanta to be with them for one of Troy’s last execution dates. He sat with them, prayed with them and gave them comfort in an impossible time.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">When Mark Clements, a victim of Chicago police torture, was finally released from Illinois prison after 28 years, he said it was Darby who took him under his wing, mentored him and looked after him. They became very fond of one another and spent a lot of time together. As Mark says, “He supported me—he encouraged me to stand up against wrong.” Losing Darby leaves a “hole in my heart which will never be able to be filled,” Mark said.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Several times, when Darby spoke at the Campaign to End the Death Penalty’s annual conventions, he paid tribute to the work of the campaign, speaking thoughtfully and poetically about our accomplishments and why it was so important to stay the course.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">It was through the Campaign that Darby would meet Cathy McMillan, who was fighting on behalf of her brother. Darby spent the last several years close to Cathy, whom he adored.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">In later years, even when it was difficult for him to walk, he would still come out for events. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">At the final big rally for Troy Davis in Atlanta, Darby was with us among the 3,000-person rally. He spoke to the audience and performed a rousing song he wrote for Troy Davis, titled “Let’s Fight Together.” The song pleaded with the authorities to do the right thing and free an innocent man. The lyrics were beautiful and the music upbeat, holding out the promise that we could win. Darby was incredibly talented as a songwriter and harmonica player, and he absolutely loved the blues. You couldn’t go on a road trip with Darby without him popping in the CD he recorded during the trip.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">One of the last times I saw him was when he spoke out at a rally in Chicago to call for justice for Trayvon Martin. Darby could always be counted on to help in the struggle. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">After the decades-long fight to win abolition in Illinois, Darby was careful to point out that the victory shouldn’t just be laid at the feet of Gov. George Ryan, who first put a moratorium on the death penalty and then cleared death row by granting clemency to every prisoner. Nor should the lawyers and journalists get the credit solely—he reminded us that it was also pivotal what activists did. This is how he put it when I asked him about how we won abolition for an article for </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Socialist Worker</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> newspaper:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">“We worked hard to get the ear of Governor Ryan, we got exonerated and family members out there, and he heard their pleas. We kept on and got the ears of the politicians to see our point, and as a result, we have destroyed this dinosaur. It shows that when we stand together and don't give up, we can win.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">It's so different now compared to when we first started. People used to look at us like we were the culprits. Now they see us, and they want to stand with us. They say, "Hey, can I hold that picket sign?" and "Keep up the good work." People can see that the death penalty is senseless--it won't cure the ills in society. They can see the corrupt and flawed nature of the system.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">I asked Darby what we abolitionists should say in a situation where the guilt of the defendant is certain. Here’s how he responded:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">“I used to say I would kill him myself if I saw him do it. But I have had a change of heart on that. You have to look beyond the person to understand why they did what they did. In some of these communities in Chicago, they're so barren, so desolate--they're like a desert. When I go there, I feel nothing but pain and hurt. It feels deadly--there's such a lack of resources.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">When you grow up and live in a community like that, you become subhuman, because you live like you're in a combat zone. Police are cruising around, and young men are out on the street with nothing to do in miserable circumstances. Just like the soldiers coming back from Iraq who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, so do the people in these desolate, crime-ridden, cop-patrolled communities.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">They're battlegrounds, and you don't hear any of the politicians saying anything about it. These problems need to seriously be addressed and not just by a program or two--it needs to be deeper than that.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">The article ended with a quote from Darby giving instructions to activists about what’s next: "We have to align ourselves with people who want to build a safe and sound society. We've shown people what we can do when we come together. We can get justice if we work hard.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">One of the best ways we can remember Darby is to bring a bit of his spirit into our fight for justice today. One of the last struggles he was concerned about was that of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed, who faces an execution date in Texas on </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1057027952" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">January 14</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">. He had befriended Sandra Reed, the mother of Rodney and spoke of her as “an angel who was wounded by a system that doesn’t give a damn about poor, colored people.” Darby wasn’t able to attend the Campaign’s convention this year in Texas, but he was there in spirit the whole time. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">To learn more about the fight for Rodney, please go to our website at </span><a href="http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">www.nodeathpenalty.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Darby would be proud to know we will carry on with this fight, standing tall, and feeling him holding us up from behind.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;"> </span>Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-86090198305505998522014-11-10T07:56:00.000-08:002014-11-10T07:56:02.466-08:00Darby Tillis, Exonerated Death Row Survivor from Illinois Dies at 71Darby Tillis, a death-row survivor who spent more than nine years incarcerated in Illinois, including four years on death-row, passed away at the age of seventy one. Darby was living in an old limousine in the streets of Chicago. Severely wounded by his experience on death-row, he traveled around the country telling the story of his wrongful conviction to anyone that would listen. In 2007, he took a bus ride from Chicago to Austin to support the successful campaign to save Kenneth Foster Jr. He never failed to mention that the judge who convicted him "is doing fifteen years in a federal penitentiary." I recorded this video of him performing his signature song at the same 2007 rally for Kenneth Foster.<br />
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Darby and Perry Cobb were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the 1977 murder and armed robbery of the owner and an employee of a hotdog stand on the north side of Chicago. They were arrested three weeks after the crime when a witness, Phyllis Santini, went to the police with a story implicating them. Both men professed their innocence. It took three Cook County jury trials for prosecutors to convict Tillis and Cobb. The first two trials ended in hung juries. The third resulted in convictions and death sentences, but the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the case based on judicial error. The two men were acquitted at the fifth trial in 1987 after Michael Falconer, a Lake County prosecutor, came forward after reading an article about the case by Rob Warden in the Chicago Lawyer. Falconer said the state’s chief witness against Mr. Tillis and Cobb had confided to him that the crime actually was committed by another man, her boyfriend. Fourteen years later, as a result of petitions brought by the Center on Wrongful Convictions and the MacArthur Justice Center, Governor George Ryan granted Tillis and Cobb pardons based on actual innocence.actual innocence.<br /><br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lFUkpeH2q0M" width="480"></iframe>Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-44195363875213755432014-10-26T15:56:00.000-07:002014-10-26T15:56:28.582-07:00Execution Watch: Miguel Paredes, Oct. 28<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZt9gtk27x8/VE17QsYcxuI/AAAAAAAAA_w/EVTvENMZEwE/s1600/Paredes%2C%2BMiguel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZt9gtk27x8/VE17QsYcxuI/AAAAAAAAA_w/EVTvENMZEwE/s1600/Paredes%2C%2BMiguel.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Miguel Paredes</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span>n Tuesday, Texas is slated to carry out its last execution of 2014,
that of Miguel Paredes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last month, Paredes gave <i>Execution Watch</i> an
interview, which we will broadcast in its entirety. This edition of the show will air in
Houston on the HD3 channel of KPFT FM because the station is in fund drive. As
always, a live stream of the show will be accessible worldwide at <a href="http://executionwatch.org/" target="_blank">http://executionwatch.org</a> > Listen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MIGUEL PAREDES,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Convicted of acting with John Saenz and Greg Alvarado in 2000 to shoot and kill three members of a rival gang in San Antonio. Paredes, who joined the Pistoleros prison gang before he was 17, was one of 20 children born to poor, Mexican-immigrant parents. The family moved to the west side of San Antonio when Paredes was a boy. After going to death row, he contributed Part 3 of a series called, "Letter to a Future Death Row Inmate." The text of the letter he wrote and a link to his his artwork are at </span><a href="http://minutesbeforesix.blogspot.com/2010/09/letters-to-future-death-row-inmate-part.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://minutesbeforesix.blogspot.com/2010/09/letters-to-future-death-row-inmate-part.html</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays, 2 PM CT, at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Guest:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> MIGUEL PAREDES</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, the condemned man, who gave an interview to Execution Watch last month. The results will broadcast unedited and uncut. A videotape of the interview, and of the show’s live radio broadcast, will air soon on Houston MediaSource, http://hmstv.org/.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PAT HARTWELL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, member, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,</span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On Jan. 14, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RODNEY REED</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, one of nine Texas executions already scheduled in 2015. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air coverage of each.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa [at]</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Pirtle.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span></span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-57532727215257014292014-09-12T12:28:00.002-07:002014-09-12T12:32:19.591-07:00Poems from death-row <div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
More several individuals have asked for the poems which were read at Willie Trottie's execution. Two of the poems ("judge ye not" and "good bye"), were written by <span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Eugene Broxton (TX #999044), </span><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">a close friend of T-Rock's. Eugene and T-Rock have been friends for many years (Eugene entered in 1992, and T-Rock in 1993. Both were convicted out of Harris County). Ker'Sean Ramey (#999519) wrote "stand up to injustice". Ker'Sean has been a friend of T-Rock's since he entered death row ou</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">t of Jackson County in 2007. </span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
"JUDGE YE NOT" (Read by Auntie Cynthia)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Have you walked in the shoes<br />
Of the person you judge,<br />
Have you shared their most<br />
Intimate thoughts,<br />
Have you known of the tears,<br />
The doubts and the fears,<br />
Or the battle that person<br />
Has fought?<br />
Have you shared in the secrets<br />
That lie in the heart,<br />
When they don't understand,<br />
They condemn off hand<br />
But trusting in me,<br />
Your eyes confide,<br />
Holding nothing,<br />
Telling no lies,<br />
Then suddenly I was startled,<br />
At my own reflection,<br />
Your eyes mirrored<br />
My imperfection,<br />
So, who was I looking at?<br />
Who did I really see?<br />
Was it you?<br />
Or was it me?<br />
Or am I you?<br />
And you are me?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Written by Eugene Broxton #999044 in 1996</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
"GOOD BYE" (Read by Momma T)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Saying goodbye is never easy<br />
But moving on<br />
We all must do<br />
Going on with our lives<br />
Not just talking about it<br />
But seeing it through<br />
Move on,<br />
My love,<br />
Move on,<br />
And live,<br />
You have,<br />
Much more to give<br />
Now it's time I must go<br />
It's not easy to say good bye<br />
But it's time<br />
So I say good bye<br />
Know my love for you is true<br />
And as long as you live,<br />
My love will be with you</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Written by Eugene Broxton #999044 July 2010</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
"STAND UP TO INJUSTICE" (Read by Pat after the bell was rung 20 times)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Stand up to injustice,<br />
and let it be known.<br />
You will not tolerate it,<br />
even from the king on his throne.<br />
Stand up to injustice,<br />
cause it could happen to you.<br />
And then what would you want<br />
the rest of the world to do?<br />
Stand up to injustice,<br />
in every shape, size and color.<br />
Then come together to stop this<br />
from going any further.<br />
Stand up to injustice,<br />
for you and for me,<br />
'cause one finger can be broken,<br />
but a fist can not be too easily.<br />
Fight this injustice,<br />
whether a woman or a man,<br />
'cause separated we fall,<br />
but United, We Stand.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Written by Ker' Sean Ramey #999519</div>
</div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-73051486278329529722014-09-07T11:47:00.001-07:002014-09-07T11:47:15.433-07:00Oklahoma Execution Report Raises More Questions Than Answers<span style="color: #2672ec;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Five points by Gloria Rubac</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Oklahoma, like Arizona and Ohio who've also botched executions, are experimenting on how to kill people, using <b>live</b> subjects. Looking for the best kill methods on prisoners is WRONG!</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.
An attorney for Oklahoma death row prisoners has filed a very detailed,
33-page lawsuit against the Dept of Corrections, the executioners, the
doctors, the paramedic, the warden -- 14 people in all. There are eight
specific violations of law they are charged with and with the
sub-points, they enumerate 124 charges against the listed defendants who
botched the execution of of Clayton Lockett last April.</span></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #2672ec;"><i><br /><br />3.
The autopsy was done in Dallas and Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott
ruled that parts of the results of the autopsy can remain a secret from
the public, including the name of the doctor and paramedic and also
where the drugs were bought. Gregg Abbott, who is runnig for governor of
Texas, has received a very large campaign contributions from a Conroe
compounding pharmacist. <br /><br />4. Oklahoma's written procedures <b>mandate</b>
the participation in each execution of a licensed physician. The
physician's functions include insertion of intravenous lines into the
condemned person and the performance of cut down procedures to gain
intravenous access to the condemned person.<br /><br />5. In a most ironic
and factually absurd statement, the prison warden, Anita Trammell, told
the investigators that Mr. Lockett was covered with a sheet to "preserve
his dignity." <br /><br />MarchforAbolition.org</i></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>IV Misplaced in Oklahoma Execution, Report Says
</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><span>By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/erik_eckholm/index.html" rel="author" target="_blank" title="More Articles by ERIK ECKHOLM"><span>ERIK ECKHOLM</span></a></span>SEPT. 4, 2014
<br />
<div>
</div>
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<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgIkgY4M_qWpXjT4h_z-rYnzg9RB3upYIorDHVS4K60RFTVmjTxR3UjwrUhEibFavzlo847pcRSEZhOYcpYKDikltzh5GWW9BWZ8hHRE-4Jgh6j5ZYlyCTl0Hnhjy0-WvyZws_mqF8wBibti_3NhMLgStChztV4yt2I-hd5P3o5KVyUhYpliOcxhw1S=s0-d-e1-ft" /><div>
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<span>Jason Holt, left front,
captain of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and Michael C. Thompson, the
public safety commissioner, fielded questions on Thursday.</span>
<span>
<span>Credit</span>
Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press </span>
</div>
<br />An official <a href="http://www.dps.state.ok.us/Investigation/14-0189SI&" target="_blank" title="The report (PDF)">report</a> released Thursday about a bungled <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/us/oklahoma-executions.html" target="_blank" title="Times article">execution</a>
in Oklahoma in April says that an improperly placed intravenous line in
the prisoner’s groin allowed the drugs to perfuse surrounding tissue
rather than to flow directly into his bloodstream.<br />
<br />
The
report was ordered by Gov. Mary Fallin after the prolonged writhing and
gasping of the prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, during an execution that
drew global attention to death penalty procedures and problems
associated with lethal injections.<br />
<br />
Because
the groin area was covered with a sheet as the injections began — first
a sedative intended to render Mr. Lockett unconscious, and then
paralyzing and heart-stopping agents — the doctor and paramedic on the
scene did not see the bulge, <span style="background-color: yellow;">larger than a golf ball</span>, indicating a
procedure gone awry, said the report by Michael C. Thompson, the
commissioner of public safety.Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-69799664857016394162014-07-14T18:41:00.002-07:002014-07-14T18:42:16.697-07:00 Drop Rodney Reed's Execution<b>Stand With Texas Death Row Prisoner Rodney Reed!<br />DROP THE DATE! TEST ALL THE DNA!</b><br />
<br />
The
Campaign to End the Death Penalty, along with the family and supporters
of Rodney Reed rejects the decision today to issue a death warrant for
innocent Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1108297628" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">January 14, 2015</span></span>.<br />
<br />
We
have long believed in Rodney’s innocence and, during a hearing today in
Bastrop County, we once again heard of the multitude of evidence that
could prove Rodney’s innocence if given a fair hearing either through a
new trial or through the appeals process.<br />
<br />
We learned today that
the state has agreed to important but limited new DNA testing of some
crime scene evidence – and that the defense is asking for even more DNA
testing of several other items related to the crime scene.<br />
<br />
While
important evidence is being tested and interpreted, and while other
testing is being considered, it is both irresponsible and cruel for the
state to seek an execution date and for the warrant to be issued by
any judge. This amounts to torture for both Rodney and his family, who
now have to live under the threat of an specific execution date, even
as Rodney’s defense team and supporters fight to prove his innocence.<br />
<br />
As Rodney
Reed’s mother Sandra said about the decision to grant the death
warrant, “We’re very disappointed…We were thinking everything was
possibly gonna be positive about the hearing today, but it was a very
disappointing outcome. But the thing is that we remain to stay strong
and especially for him - Rodney is strong and the truth keeps us strong.
It’s not over until it’s over.”<br />
<br />
Despite the obscene injustice
that took place in Bastrop today, Rodney’s family and supporters stand
strong in our determination to fight to save the life of Rodney Reed.<br />
<br />
Rodney’s
defense will continue to work on getting all the DNA tested, as well as
still working for appellate relief on issues around
the misinterpretation of scientific evidence. There is a chance that the
Supreme Court could hear the case - an announcement would likely be
made in late October if that were to happen.<br />
<br />
And Rodney’s family and supporters have vowed to keep up the fight outside the courthouse. We are planning a rally on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1108297629" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">July 24th at 11 am</span></span>
outside the Bastrop County Court House to call the State of Texas
to account for it’s role in seeking the death warrant and to demand that
all the DNA be tested in this case.<br />
<br />
Now is the time to get
involved in the struggle for justice and to save Rodney Reed! We have
seen to many times how innocent people are caught up by an unjust
system. People like Anthony Graves, released off death row after
years of struggling to prove his innocence, like Cameron Todd
Willingham, executed in Texas despite proof of his innocence revealed
long before his execution took place.<br />
<br />
Or people like Yusef
Salaam, who was won his freedom decades after being wrongfully convicted
of rape in the infamous Central Park Jogger case in New York. Today
Yusef offered these words in support of Rodney, “My brother Rodney, like
too many others, has been railroaded onto death row by the racist
system of criminal injustice. Corruption and vengefulness has
turned Rodney’s life – and that of his family into a living nightmare,
one the thousands on death row know all too well – the innocent and
guilty alike. We must shout Rodney’s name from the rooftops: we will not
let the state of Texas take him from us!<br />
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Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-90393546697609705422014-06-04T09:39:00.000-07:002014-06-04T09:39:00.854-07:00From Texas death row: Two cases of injustice<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">By: Lily Hughes</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> for <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/new_abolitionist/april-1999-issue-2/texas-death-row-two-cases-injustice" target="_blank">the New Abolitionist </a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><div style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
state of Texas maintains the most active execution chamber in the
nation, amid questionable practices and a host of controversial
executions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Texas
has executed seven people already this year as of May 2014. The state
has put at least 515 people to death since executions were reinstated in
1982, far more than any other state.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Over
the last 15 years, there have been scandals at DNA labs, and
revelations of judges and lawyers sleeping through portions of capital
cases. Meanwhile, clear evidence of racial bias in sentencing, a lack of
funding for indigent defendants and an assembly line approach to
executions continue to plague the Texas system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Despite
this, the courts here are known to rubber-stamp death penalty
convictions with little scrutiny. The worst offender is the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The many problems in the application of the death penalty in Texas have undoubtedly led to the execution of innocent people.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
While
a only a few people have won exoneration off Texas death row over the
years—Clarence Brandley, Randall Adams, and most recently, Anthony
Graves—many more of those executed are believed to have been innocent.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
most prominent example is the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was
executed in 2004 for allegedly starting a house fire that resulted in
the death of his three children. However, a forensic review using
updated fire-science investigation methods has revealed that there
likely was no arson, and that the fire was accidental. This evidence was
available before Willingham’s execution, yet Texas authorities chose to
ignore it.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
More
recently, the New York-based Innocence Project has been working to win a
posthumous exoneration for Willingham. Lawyers there uncovered new
evidence of a deal for a reduction in charges for a jailhouse informant
who fingered Willingham. In April of this year, the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles once again denied the request for a pardon for
Willingham.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
There
are several death row prisoners currently facing execution in Texas
with strong cases for innocence, including the cases of Rodney Reed and
Louis Castro Perez.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>Test all the evidence</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>The case of Louis Castro Perez<br /></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
case of Louis Castro Perez—who, like Rodney Reed, is from central
Texas—has taken a path like Rodney’s case. Louis was sentenced to death
in 1999, convicted of the murders of his friends Michelle Fulwiler and
Cynda Barz, and Barz’s 9-year-old daughter Staci Mitchell.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
However,
over the years, Perez’s family, and especially his sister Delia Perez
Myer, have fought to get evidence of his innocence heard by the courts,
including authorizing extensive testing to be done on foreign DNA
samples from several items left at the crime scene.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Perez
was convicted based on the presence of his DNA and fingerprints at the
crime scene. As both the prosecution and defense acknowledged, Perez had
been a guest in the home over the preceding days. According to him, he
left that morning to meet a friend, and when he returned later, he
encountered a badly beaten, yet still alive Cynda Barz at the front
door. He kneeled down to help her, asking what had happened. When he
tried to pick her up, she scratched him. He panicked and put her back
down, leaving a palm print next to her body. Perez then fled the scene.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
As
Delia Perez Myer told reporter Rebekah Skelton in 2012, Perez fled
because of an arrest warrant he had for evading child support, “My first
blame is that my brother didn’t dial 911. He didn’t want to get
involved, and he just walked out the door.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
However,
Perez Myer also pointed out that Perez may have fled the scene of a
crime in progress, “We believe the actual murderer was still in the
home, because when Louis left, someone dead bolted the door behind him,”
she said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
When
Perez learned that he was a suspect in the murder, he went down to the
police station himself—he was certain that the evidence would show that
he was not responsible for the crime.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Regarding
the DNA evidence, there was unknown DNA identified on a rag wrapped
around a knife at the scene of the crime, as well as on a towel near one
of the victims. Crime scene investigators admitted under oath that the
Austin Police Department sent this material to the Department of Public
Safety (DPS) and asked them to only look for Perez’s DNA.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
In
addition, Crime Scene Specialist Michelle Thompson testified at trial
that three possible murder weapons were found at the scene of the crime:
a Comal (a flat cooking griddle), a telephone cord, and a pair of
pantyhose. None of these items held any evidence of Perez’s DNA or
fingerprints.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
More
recently, new laws in Texas have made access to DNA testing by
prisoners much easier, and that may lead to a breakthrough in the case.
More DNA evidence has been discovered and other evidence that hasn’t
been tested before has been made available to the defense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Delia
Perez Myer told the New Abolitionist, “It wasn’t until recently that
our new attorneys and the Innocence Project based in New York were able
to secure permission from the Western District of the Federal Courts to
allow further DNA testing.” While results of that testing are not yet
available to the public, it’s hoped that they may bolster Perez’s claim
of innocence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Perez
Myer pointed out further issues in the conviction of her brother: “It
is clear and evident that there were many errors in his case, including
prosecutorial misconduct, withholding of exculpatory evidence, serious
issues with the Travis County Medical Examiners not having their
licensing in order and retracting statements made during our
investigations; problems at the DNA Labs at the Texas Department of
Public Safety—and, of course, the more than 40 fingerprints found at the
crime scene that didn’t match Louis.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Also,
like the Rodney Reed case, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
recently released an opinion denying relief to Louis Castro Perez.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
His
latest appeal was based on an issue of ineffective assistance of
counsel. The 5th U.S. Circuit had previously rendered a judgment denying
Perez relief. His lawyer then had 30 days to respond. However, she
failed to respond to a 30-day deadline for filing a new motion with the
district court. In fact, this attorney received notification of the
deadline and, without alerting Louis or the other consulting attorney on
the case, decided on her own not to respond to the motion, effectively
abandoning her client.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
In
March 2012, after being made aware of the error, the court granted a
motion to allow Perez to reenter the appeal that his lawyer should have
made. However, in March of this year, the 5th U.S. Circuit vacated that
order and decided to let the original judgment of denial of relief
stand. Unless the 5th U.S. Circuit reconsiders that decision, Perez’s
case will go on the U.S. Supreme Court.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
As
Perez Myer says of her brother’s case, “It is imperative that we move
forward with our innocence claim and find the true perpetrator in this
triple homicide from September 1998 where Louis’ friends Michelle Cynda,
and Stacey were so heinously murdered. We must ensure that no other
family go through what we have been through, having a wrongfully
convicted loved one sent to our torturous death row here in Texas.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Over
the next few months, activists in Austin, alongside Perez Myer, will be
working to put together a screening of a new movie, The Road to
Livingston, which documents her visits to her brother on death row and
their relationship over the long years he has spent on death row.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Perez
Myer continues to speak around the country and the world about her
brother’s case, and to fight against the death penalty for everyone.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>Seventeen years fighting to be heard</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>The case of Rodney Reed<br /></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
On
December 4, 2013, about a dozen family members and supporters of Texas
death row prisoner Rodney Reed stood in front of the Texas State Capitol
holding signs surrounded by every local media outlet in Austin.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
That
same day, down in New Orleans, Reed’s lawyers were presenting oral
arguments to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Rodney’s case had
been denied an appeal by the highest criminal court in Texas and was
being heard for the first time by judges of the 5th Circuit. Because
oral arguments are rarely granted in federal district courts, hopes were
high among Reed’s family and supporters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Reed’s mother Sandra spoke to the assembled reporters: “Knowing the evidence, knowing the truth keeps us strong,” she said.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
For
years, Rodney’s family, legal team, and activists have fought to get
the evidence of that truth heard by the courts: Rodney Reed is innocent
on death row.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Rodney
Reed has been on death row for 17 years, convicted of the 1996 rape and
murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Although the state claims
Reed did not know Stacey, many witnesses attested to an ongoing affair
between Reed and Stites, lasting over the course of months. Stites
became engaged to Jimmy Fennell Jr., a police officer in the nearby town
of Giddings, during this time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
On
April 23, 1996, the truck that Stites and Fennell shared was found
abandoned at Bastrop High School in the early morning hours, and her
body was found dumped on a lonely stretch of country road later that
afternoon. She had been strangled, and the remains of a belt were found
next to her body. The subsequent autopsy revealed a small amount of
semen, although there was no clear evidence of bruising consistent with
rape.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
One
year later, Rodney was charged with Stites’ murder. He was convicted on
the basis of a single piece of forensic evidence—semen DNA. Reed
admitted to being with Stites over a day before her murder, which
explained the presence of his DNA.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
At
trial, the state argued that the semen was deposited just before the
time of Stites’s death, in order to bolster the rape and murder charges.
Reed’s defense has consistently argued that the semen found was much
older than the state claimed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
In
2012, the former medical examiner who testified for the prosecution
refuted the claim he made at trial that the semen had to be less than 24
hours old. In an affidavit for Reed’s defense, Robert Bayardo says that
his forensics findings were “misconstrued” by the prosecution, saying
that “My estimate of time of death…should not have been used at trial as
an accurate statement of when…Stites died.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Another
medical examiner, Lloyd White examined the evidence in the case for the
Austin Chronicle back in 2002. Speaking to the state’s contention at
trial about when the sperm was deposited he said, “There have been
documented cases where you can recognize the spermatozoa in bodies that
have been dead for days.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
No
other physical evidence connects Reed to this crime. Meanwhile, a
pattern of other evidence links Stites’ fiancé and former police officer
Jimmy Fennell, Jr., to the crime. He was one of the first suspects in
the murder, and failed two lie detector tests when asked if he had
strangled Stites. DNA found on beer cans at the crime scene have been
linked to two police officers—evidence available at trial, which the
prosecution failed to give to the defense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
At
new hearings for Reed in 2006, one witness testified to seeing Stites
and Fennell in the early morning hours of the day of her murder. Another
witness testified while at the police academy together, she had
overheard Fennell say that he would strangle his girlfriend with a belt
if he found her cheating on him—which is how Stites died.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Despite
the fact that the state claimed Stites was killed in the truck owned by
her and Fennell, none of Reed’s fingerprints were found in the
truck—only Stites and Fennell’s fingerprints were present. There was
evidence of body fluid between the passenger and driver seat. Before the
defense could have access to the truck or request further testing of
any of this forensic evidence, the truck was returned to Fennell and he
sold it within days of the murder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Fennell
is currently serving time, after being convicted of kidnapping and
sexually assaulting a woman he detained while policing in Georgetown,
Texas.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
All of this and more was presented in Reed’s recent appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court. However, on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1465417119" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">January 15</span></span>
of this year, the court upheld the lower court’s decision to deny the
appeal. The federal courts dismissed Bayardo’s new affidavit regarding
the semen DNA , saying that even substantively considered, Dr. Bayardo’s
affidavit would have “little probative value.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
5th U.S. Circuit time and time again dismisses various witnesses for
Reed as “not credible,” including witnesses who testified to the affair
between Reed and Stites, and witnesses who linked Fennell to Stites’s
murder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
decision by the court was shocking to Reed’s family, as his mother
Sandra said, “simply because all of the truth has been denied over the
past 17 years. The truth has been on the table pointing to someone else,
the DNA on the beer cans implicating two police officers in the very
beginning of this case, which was suppressed at trial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
“Rodney
had an alibi witness. The state said he didn’t, but he did—and the
reason why they could say that is because the judge Towslee denied the
alibi witness to testify. Nothing led to Rodney’s conviction except the
so-called DNA, and we know now that it was old.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Despite
a mountain of evidence of Reed’s innocence, the courts continue to fall
back on procedural bars to the admission of this evidence. That is why
Reed’s family and supporters continue to try to build public awareness
and outcry against any execution for Rodney.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
threat of execution and the constant denial by the courts have taken a
toll on Rodney and his family. “Until a person is in our place, you
can’t really describe it,” Sandra said. “It’s a hard pill to swallow—the
corruption and injustice that’s dwelling in my son’s case.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Despite
this, Sandra said that “Rodney’s handling things very well—he’s
remaining strong for himself. The truth keeps us all strong, and
believing that justice will prevail.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
On <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1465417120" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">February 14</span></span>
this year, his family and supporters were out in the streets again—this
time picketing the Bastrop County Courthouse, asking the district
attorney to drop the charges against Rodney or grant him a new trial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
“The
best way to go right now is to get the petitions to Bryan Goertz, the
district attorney, and rallying here in Bastrop,” said Rodrick Reed,
Rodney’s brother and his active supporter, “Right now, it’s in his
hands, so I think the best thing to do is make noise here in Bastrop.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Activists
have plans to go back with our petition for Reed—over 10,000 people
have signed an online version demanding a new trial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Rodney’s
case is now heading to the U.S. Supreme Court, but despite this, the
state of Texas has already attempted to have an execution date set.
While one hasn’t been set yet, the urgency of the situation could not be
more dire.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>Fighting back</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
These are just two of the cases in which death penalty abolitionists in Texas are fighting to win a hearing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
There
are also the many cases of prisoners sentenced to death under the
unjust Texas “Law of Parties,” where a person can be sentenced to death,
even though they did not kill anyone. Jeff Wood was convicted under
this unjust law and has been on Texas death row for the past 16 years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
There
are cases like those of Hank Skinner, who has fought for years to get
further DNA testing of several pieces of evidence from the crime scene,
only to be told that that some crucial evidence has been lost or
misplaced.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
As
Delia Perez Myer puts it, “I am certain that we have executed innocent
men and women in Texas, from Carlos de Luna to Todd Cameron Willingham
and many others. It would be naïve of me to think that Louis is the
first person who has ever been innocent on death row.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
When
asked the most important thing for abolitionists to do right now,
Sandra Reed responded, “We have to be steady and put the fight to end
the death penalty in the spotlight, because there’s too many people
going through what we are. There’s many other mothers out there who are
in my shoes, and we need to find them, to help them.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
The
family of both Reed and Perez, alongside activists in Texas, have vowed
to protest in every way possible any execution dates. Abolitionists
here and around the world will continue to expose the injustices of the
Texas death penalty and demand that the courts and the state of Texas
acknowledge that evidence matters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Lawmakers
should not turn a blind eye to the innocence of death row prisoners in
Texas. While the mistake of Cameron Todd Willingham cannot be undone, it
can in the case of Rodney Reed and of Louis Castro Perez.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<strong>What you can do to help spread the word</strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Sign and share the petition for Rodney Reed online at <a href="http://change.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-rodney-reed" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">change.org. </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Organize a screening of the documentary State vs. Reed, streaming online at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLTcV664IgU" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">youtube.com</a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
Find out about screenings of The Road to Livingston in your area. Follow the film on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheRoadToLivingston" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</div>
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Check out our solidarity photo campaign for Rodney Reed on Instagram at <a href="http://instagram.com/justice4rodney" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Justice4Rodney</a>. Send us your own solidarity photo to post to: <a href="mailto:austincedp@nodeathpenalty.org" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">austincedp@nodeathpenalty.<wbr></wbr>org</a> or to our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinCEDP" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.</div>
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Get involved with Texas activists who are fighting executions. E-mail <a href="mailto:austincedp@nodeathpenalty.org" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">austincedp@<wbr></wbr>nodeathpenalty.org</a> or visit us on<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinCEDP" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> Facebook</a>.</div>
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Order a bundle of newsletters from <a href="mailto:marlene@nodeathpenalty.org" target="_blank">marlene@nodeathpenalty.org</a>—do a tabling at your school or in your community to help build support. Share articles from the New Abolitionist online at <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/" target="_blank">nodeathpenalty.org</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/make-donation" style="color: #dd0000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Become a monthly sustainer</a> and help sustain the efforts of the CEDP! Read more about the sustainer program in the New Abolitionist.</div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,'Bitstream Vera Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">- See more at: <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/new_abolitionist/april-1999-issue-2/texas-death-row-two-cases-injustice#sthash.EiOSRMZn.dpuf" target="_blank">http://nodeathpenalty.org/new_<wbr></wbr>abolitionist/april-1999-issue-<wbr></wbr>2/texas-death-row-two-cases-<wbr></wbr>injustice#sthash.EiOSRMZn.dpuf</a></span></div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-9332339947534848102014-05-11T19:37:00.002-07:002014-05-11T19:37:36.701-07:00Execution Watch: Robert Campbell, May 13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Q8wuzue_nk/U3AyJXW8p3I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/euNJrYbUc_8/s1600/Campbell,+Robert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Q8wuzue_nk/U3AyJXW8p3I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/euNJrYbUc_8/s1600/Campbell,+Robert.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Robert Campbell</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Oklahoma has put a hold on executions while its method of inducing death is investigated, but Texas intends to go forward Tuesday with executing Robert Campbell using lethal injection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Execution Watch</em> will provide live coverage online and on the HD3 channel of KPFT FM 90.1 Houston.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live on:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1, HD3 Channel (due to KPFT fund drive), and</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Online,</span><a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ROBERT CAMPBELL,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> convicted for the 1991 abduction and murder of a woman in Houston. His case made headlines again in 2005, when investigators discovered about 150 pieces of evidence misplaced by Houston Police, including a <span style="font-size: x-small;">cigarette butt</span> that was collected at the scene of the murder but never brought to the attention of Campbell's trial attorney. His appellate attorneys were seeking a stay, based in part on the secrecy surrounding Texas's execution drugs, which are from an unknown source. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays, 2 PM CT, at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured interview guest: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PROF. KEVIN BARRY, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Quinnipiac University School of Law, who predicts that the Connecticut Supreme Court, which is poised to be the first court in nearly a century to rule on whether the state may outlaw the death penalty for new crimes yet keep it on the books for those already committed, will allow the executions to go forward. Other states facing the post-repeal dilemma are New Mexico, Maryland, Kansas and Delaware. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PAT HARTWELL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, member, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,</span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On Aug. 6, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MANUEL VASQUEZ</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa [at]</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Pirtle.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span></b>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-91747788458146246962014-04-07T23:03:00.000-07:002014-04-07T23:03:46.777-07:00Execution Watch: Ramiro Hernandez, April 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CieThpMGmAQ/U0OOCkvZTaI/AAAAAAAAAwk/NSSDYXsC1ac/s1600/Hernandez,+Ramiro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CieThpMGmAQ/U0OOCkvZTaI/AAAAAAAAAwk/NSSDYXsC1ac/s1600/Hernandez,+Ramiro.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ramiro Hernandez</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The planned execution Wednesday of Ramiro Hernandez came one step closer to reality when an appeals court ruled that Texas prison officials may continue to keep secret the source of the drug they've purchased to kill him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The 5th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals determined Monday that the drug was effective and there was no compelling evidence that
protections provided by the U.S. Constitution would be violated under current
procedures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unless Hernandez receives a stay, Execution Watch will provide live coverage of the state killing. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live on:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1 and</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Online,</span><a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAMIRO HERNANDEZ,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> convicted of killing a Kerrville man and raping his wife in 1997. A U.S. appeals court ruled Monday that Texas officials may continue to withhold from Hernandez the source of the drugs they’ve purchased to kill him. Attorneys from the Cornell Death Penalty Project said Hernandez, who literally grew up on a toxic waste dump in Mexico, is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for execution. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays, 2 PM CT, at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PAT HARTWELL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, member, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,</span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On April 16, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JOSE VILLEGAS</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa [at]</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Pirtle.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-74838633499329917952014-04-01T19:03:00.000-07:002014-04-01T19:03:22.231-07:00Execution Watch: Tommy Sells, April 3<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tommy Sells</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="hb">HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Tommy Sells is one of two death-row prisoners who prevailed recently in a lawsuit demanding that Texas prison officials disclose the source of the drugs used in lethal injections.<br /><br />But the court decision has not stopped the wheels of death from turning. Sells is slated for execution Thursday.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hb"><br /><span class="g2" dir="ltr" name="Texas"></span> </span></div>
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<img alt="" class="ajz" data-tooltip="Show details" id=":2ok" role="button" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thursday, April 3, 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live on:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1 and </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Online, </span><a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TOMMY SELLS, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">condemned
in the New Year’s Eve 1999 slaying of a teenage girl in Del Rio in
1999. When Del Rio police questioned Sells about the killing, he took
responsibility for it and dozens of slayings around the country. His
appellate lawyers said detectives pressured him into making far-fetched
assertions about being a serial killer. His attorneys also said counsel
failed to represent Sells effectively, both at trial and early in the
appeals process. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays, 2 PM CT, at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen
capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston
criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Interview: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TOMMY SELLS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> whose recent death-row interview with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will be broadcast in full.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">GLORIA RUBAC</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, member, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, </span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On April 9, Texas plans to kill Mexican national </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAMIRO HERNANDEZ</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa [at] </span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Pirtle.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span>Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-72162328884521290712014-03-25T21:23:00.000-07:002014-03-25T21:33:02.874-07:00Execution Watch: Anthony Doyle, March 27<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BLQmG6au04/UzJS6LdWoFI/AAAAAAAAAuk/AqZTbtOqyUg/s1600/Doyle,+Anthony.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BLQmG6au04/UzJS6LdWoFI/AAAAAAAAAuk/AqZTbtOqyUg/s1600/Doyle,+Anthony.JPG" height="257" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anthony Doyle</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS - For the second time in as many weeks, Texas is preparing to execute a black man who was a teenager when he allegedly committed murder.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anthony Doyle is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, scheduled for Thursday. If the high court rules against him, Execution Watch will provide live coverage of the state-sanctioned killing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">EXECUTION WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thursday, March 27, 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM 90.1, Houston, and Online: <br />
</span></div>
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<a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ANTHONY DOYLE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
convicted of beating to death a doughnut delivery woman in suburban
Dallas when he was 18 years old. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
turned down his appeal in July, rejecting arguments that his confession
was involuntary, his legal help at trial was deficient, and his sentence
was unconstitutional.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays at 2 PM CT.: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen
capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston
criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Interview: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TBA</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DR. DENNIS LONGMIRE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Professor of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On April 3, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TOMMY SELLS</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa @</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHER: Mark Pirtle</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-49688157556971693652014-03-17T22:46:00.001-07:002014-03-17T22:46:49.917-07:00Execution Watch: Ray Jasper, March 19<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58bL8k-x-rE/UyfZ7SedErI/AAAAAAAAAr8/_4VdtyvDl2k/s1600/Jasper,+Ray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58bL8k-x-rE/UyfZ7SedErI/AAAAAAAAAr8/_4VdtyvDl2k/s1600/Jasper,+Ray.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ray Jasper</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By Execution Watch</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Ray Jasper, who gained international noteriety by writing to gawker.com with his "final statement on earth," is slated to be executed Wednesday.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The radio show <i>Execution Watch</i> will provide live coverage of his execution and an analysis of his case.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">EXECUTION WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday, March 19, 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1 and Online...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Go to: </span><a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates and discussion on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY JASPER</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
a rap artist born in the Netherlands who was 18 when police say he and
two others committed a 1998 robbery in San Antonio in which the owner of
a recording studio was killed. The other defendants received life
sentences. Jasper's appellate attorneys argued that a potential juror at
his trial was excluded improperly because he, like Jasper, was black.
They also said Jasper had inadequate legal help at trial.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays at 2 PM CT.: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen
capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston
criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Interview: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TBA</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">GLORIA RUBAC</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,</span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On March 27, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ANTHONY DOYLE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa @</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span></div>
Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-56696675815068377242014-03-04T17:12:00.001-08:002014-03-04T17:12:15.969-08:00Louis Castro Perez denied appeal by 5th Circuit Court<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Justice for Louis Castro Perez!</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The
5th Circuit Court has released an opinion denying relief to innocent
Texas death row prisoner Louis Castro Perez. Many folks will be familiar
with the case through Louis' sister, Delia Perez Meyer, who sits on the
board of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Delia
has been a tireless advocate for her brother and all death row
prisoners. She has travelled the world in the fight to win death penalty
abolition. For some time, Louis has been fighting to win DNA testing of
several items found at the crime scene that contain the DNA of an
unknown person, including on a bloody towel wrapped around a knife found
at the crime scene! For more facts about the physical evidence and
issue in this case please check out: <a href="http://nodeathpenalty.org/get-the-facts/justice-louis-castro-perez-test-all-dna" target="_blank">http://nodeathpenalty.<wbr></wbr>org/get-the-facts/justice-<wbr></wbr>louis-castro-perez-test-all-<wbr></wbr>dna</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The
latest appeal for Louis was based on an issue of ineffective assistance
of counsel. The 5th Circuit had previously rendered a judgement denying
Louis relief. His lawyer then had 30 days to respond, however, she
failed to respond to a 30 day deadline for filing a new motion with the
district court. In fact this attorney received notification of the
deadline and without alerting Louis or the other consulting attorney on
the case, she decided on her own not to respond to the motion,
effectively abandoning her client.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In March of
2012, after being made aware of the error, the court granted a motion to
allow Louis to reenter the appeal that his lawyer should have made.
However, late last week the 5th Circuit vacated that order, and has
decided to let the original judgement of denial of relief stand.<b> </b></div>
<div>
<b> </b></div>
<div>
<b>You </b>can read the whole <span id="goog_1742464392"></span>transcript of the judgement here<span id="goog_1742464393"></span>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We will continue to fight for justice for Louis Castro Perez and against any execution date!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The full judgement from the <a href="http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions%5Cpub%5C13/13-70002-CV0.pdf" target="_blank">5th Circuit can be read here.</a></div>
Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-14918273982297629432014-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:002014-02-03T19:47:01.233-08:00Execution Watch: Suzanne Basso, Feb. 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2l0THd5aKU/UvBg5mvPUvI/AAAAAAAAAoM/X-PYccBcReQ/s1600/Basso,+Suzanne.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2l0THd5aKU/UvBg5mvPUvI/AAAAAAAAAoM/X-PYccBcReQ/s1600/Basso,+Suzanne.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Suzanne Basso</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Execution Watch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Suzanne Basso is confined to a wheelchair. On Wednesday, Texas plans to kill her as one of six people convicted in the slaying of a man some 15 years ago. If the state follows through with its plan, <em>Execution Watch</em> will provide live coverage and commentary</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, Execution Watch will broadcast live:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 6-7 PM Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1 and Online...</span></div>
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<a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates and discussion on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUZANNE BASSO</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, convicted along with five others in the 1998 beating death of a developmentally disabled man near Houston. A federal judge joined Texas' top criminal court Monday in refusing to stop the execution, rejecting evidence that the 59-year-old, wheelchair-bound woman suffers from mental incompetence that would make her execution unconstitutional. Basso would be the 14th woman executed in the United States and the 5th in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume.</span>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays at 2 PM CT.: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Interview: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TBA</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">GLORIA RUBAC</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement,</span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On March 19, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY JASPER</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa @</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /> </b><br />Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12921727755974948787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22223580.post-34924265533126965722014-01-20T18:20:00.000-08:002014-01-20T18:20:34.852-08:00Execution Wathc: Tamayo-Prevu
<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RADIO SHOW PREVIEW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">EXECUTION WATCH</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1657991740" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Wednesday, 22 January 2014, 6-7 PM</span></span> Central Time</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">KPFT FM Houston 90.1 HD3 and Online...</span></div>
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<a href="http://e/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://e</span></a><a href="http://www.executionwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">xecutionwatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> > Listen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Updates and discussion on Facebook: Execution Watch</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">EDGAR TAMAYO</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, A Mexican national convicted in the 1994 shooting death of a Houston police officer who had
been flagged down outside a nightclub by a man Tamayo
had robbed minutes earlier. Officer Guy Gaddis arrested and handcuffed
Tamayo and was driving him to the lockup when Tamayo pulled a pistol
that had gone undetected. He shot Gaddis, fled, and was
arrested nearby. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mexico
has pleaded with Texas to delay Tamayo’s execution, saying an
international treaty was violated when officers did not inform Tamayo of
his right to contact the Mexican consulate and authorities failed to
notify Mexico of the arrest.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SHOW LINEUP</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Host: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">RAY HILL</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, an ex-convict and activist who founded, and hosted for 30 years, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Prison Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on KPFT. His internet radio show airs Wednesdays at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1657991741" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">2 PM CT</span></span>.: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">h</span><a href="http://hmsradio.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">msnetradio.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Analyst: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JIM SKELTON</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen
capital trials as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Also, Houston
criminal defense attorneys </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUSAN ASHLEY,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">LARRY DOUGLAS,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MICHAEL GILLESPIE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> & </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">JACK LEE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Featured Interview: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TBA</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Outside the Death House, Huntsville: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">GLORIA RUBAC</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, </span><a href="http://www.abolitionmovement.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.abolitionmovement.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reporter, Vigil, Houston: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">DAVE ATWOOD</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, founder and former board member, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty,</span><a href="http://ww.tcadp.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tcadp.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1657991742" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Feb. 5</span></span>, Texas plans to kill </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SUZANNE BASSO</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. If it does, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Execution Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> will air.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PRODUCER: Elizabeth, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eliza.tx.usa @</span><a href="http://gmail.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THEME: By Victoria Panetti, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SheMonster International</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,</span><a href="http://myspace.com/shemonster" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">myspace.com/shemonste</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">r.</span>Hooman Hedayatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13174966445842575829noreply@blogger.com0