U.S. Supreme Court Issues Stay of Execution for Cleve Foster

From the New York Times:

The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday morning granted a temporary stay of execution to Cleve Foster, a former Army recruiter convicted of killing a woman he met in a Fort Worth bar who was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening in Texas. It is the second time he has been spared hours before his appointed death by the Supreme Court.

The reprieve, in place while the court examines the case of Mr. Foster, 47, is based on whether he received adequate counsel during the course of the case, as well as questions related to his guilt, said Maurie Levin, one of Mr. Foster’s lawyers.

Ms. Levin has also challenged the execution of Mr. Foster based on one of the drugs that is to be used to kill him.

“I’m thrilled that the Supreme Court stayed Mr. Foster’s execution, and we hope they will be looking at the issues raised, including effective Habeus counsel and Mr. Foster’s claims of innocence,” Ms. Levin said. “I am also relieved that at least today that we will not be seeing an execution in the midst of the chaos surrounding questions about lethal injection.”

Mr. Foster, 47, a veteran of the Persian Gulf war of 1991, was convicted in 2004 of killing Nyanuer Pal, 28, a Sudanese immigrant who was known as Mary. Mr. Foster’s roommate, who was also convicted in the murder, died in prison last year
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Execution Watch: April 5, 2011 Cleve "Sarge" Foster

Texas is gearing up for the execution Tuesday of U.S. Army veteran Cleve "Sarge" Foster, even as court challenges continue. Foster's lawyers are questioning the type of execution drug to be used, as well as the way the state acquires such drugs. Unless a stay is granted, Foster will be put to death April 5, just after 6 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Execution Watch will provide live converage and analysis. Details below. Spread the word.

KPFT FM 90.1, Houston, 6PM CT
"Providing the facts about the Texas death penalty"
Streaming live at www.executionwatch.org  & www.kpft.org    
Broadcasting during each execution: www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/scheduledexecutions.htm

 

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RADIO PROGRAM PREVIEW

EXECUTION WATCH
April 5, 2011, Tues., 6-7 pm CT
Tune in on KPFT's 90.1 FM Houston, or
Listen online: Go to www.executionwatch. org at 6 p.m. CT, click on “Listen.”

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:

  CLEVE “SARGE” FOSTER, 47, a former Army recruiter condemned in the 2002 slaying of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth. Foster has maintained his innocence. Co-defendant Sheldon Ward, who claimed sole responsibility for the murder, cheated the executioner by dying of a brain tumor May 13, 2010, while on death row. Foster’s attempts to appeal his conviction reached as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. The Kentucky native's execution was still being challenged by his attorneys, who claim the state has made numerous errors in designating and acquiring execution drugs. More background is at http://executionwatch.org  > Backpage on Cleve 'Sarge' Foster.

SHOW LINEUP

  Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict who has lost a dozen friends to the death chamber. Ray’s civil rights activism has included shepherding several cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. He founded, and hosted for 30 years, KPFT’s Prison Show, http://www.theprisonshow.org

  Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a Texas native and attorney who has sat at the defense table or the prosecutor's table in various capital cases. Now retired from the courtroom, he is a popular legal educator in Houston.

  Featured Interview: SYLVIA GARZA, Ms. Garza heads the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. She has led contingents from the Valley to Houston or Auston many times, to testify, lobby or protest against the Texas death penalty. Her son, Robert Garza, was condemned for taking part in a crime in which someone else committed a murder. No other state allows the death penalty for law-of-parties murder convictions. Foster's conviction was obtained under the Texas law of parties. Ms. Garza is one of several people featured in the documentary, DON'T KILL MY FATHER (2010), about the ordeals of families with loved ones on Texas death row. The film will screen April 8 at Rice Cinema, Houston, as part of the Prison Reform Film Festival. Details at http://theprisonshow.org > Film Festival.

  Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC, leader of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and long-time activist against the death penalty, http://abolitionmovement.org. 

  Reporter, Vigil, Houston: DAVID ATWOOD, board member of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. http://tcadp.org 

NEXT SCHEDULED EXECTION
  On, May 3, Texas plans to execute TERRY KERR. If that happens, Execution Watch will broadcast. Details: www.executionwatch.org 
 
PRODUCER: Elizabeth Ann Stein, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay, omaclay @gmail.com  
THEME SONG: “Death by Texas,” Victoria Panetti of SheMonster International http://www.myspace.com/shemonster  

Former U.S. Army recruiter to be executed Jan. 11

Cleve "Sarge" Foster

 
By Elizabeth Ann Stein
Producer, Execution Watch

Tomorrow, the state controller will announce Texas' deficit, estimated by others at $15 billion to $25 billion. The following day, Jan. 11, Texas will put to death former Army recruiter Cleve "Sarge" Foster at a total cost of $2.3 million over life in prison.

Execution Watch will broadcast live coverage and analysis of Foster's execution.

Last year, Texas's highest-in-the-nation 17 executions represented a death-penalty surtax of nearly $40 million. What the cost to taxpayers will be for 2011, only time will tell.

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RADIO PROGRAM PREVIEW

EXECUTION WATCH

Jan. 11, 2011, Tues., 6-7 pm CT

Tune in on KPFT's HD-2 channel, 90.1 FM Houston, or

Listen online: Go to www.executionwatch. org at 6 p.m. CT, click on “Listen.”

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:

  CLEVE “SARGE” FOSTER, 47, a former Army recruiter condemned in the 2002 slaying of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth. Foster has maintained his innocence. Co-defendant Sheldon Ward, who claimed sole responsibility for the murder, cheated the executioner by dying of a brain tumor May 13, 2010, while on death row. Foster’s attempts to appeal his conviction reached as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. News reports indicate his sister and mother, who live in his native Kentucky, plan to witness Foster’s death-by-lethal-injection. His execution will be the first in Texas since Oct. 21. More background is at

http://executionwatch.org > Backpage on Cleve ‘Sarge’ Foster.

SHOW LINEUP

  Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict who has lost a dozen friends to the death chamber. Ray’s civil rights activism has included shepherding several cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. He founded, and hosted for 30 years, KPFT’s Prison Show, http://www.theprisonshow.org .

  Legal Analyst: ROBERT ROSENBERG, a Houston attorney who has been handling death row cases since the 1980s. As a civil rights lawyer, he has represented clients on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.

  Featured Interview: ROBIN M. MAHER, Director of the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Representation Project, which seeks to educate attorneys about the shortage of representation for death row inmates and to recruit and train volunteer attorneys to fill the need. The project also promotes systemic changes to ensure that defendants in capital cases are represented at all stages by competent counsel. http://www.abanet.org/deathpenalty/.

  Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC, leader of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and long-time activist against the death penalty, http://abolitionmovement.org/ .

   Reporter, Vigil, Houston: DAVID ATWOOD, board member of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. http://tcadp.org.

NEXT SCHEDULED EXECTION

  On, Feb. 15, Texas plans to execute MICHAEL WAYNE HALL. If that happens, Execution Watch will broadcast. Details: www.executionwatch.org

  PRODUCER: Elizabeth Ann Stein, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com.

  TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay, omaclay @gmail.com.

  THEME: “Death by Texas,” Victoria Panetti, http://www.myspace.com/shemonster