Kenneth Foster on Democracy Now!

Democracy Now:

Thursday, August 9th, 2007
The Case of Kenneth Foster: Texas Prepares To Execute Man For Driving A Car Near Scene of Murder

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Three weeks from today, a 30-year-old African American man on death row in Texas is scheduled to be executed. Kenneth Foster was sentenced to death ten years ago for the murder of Michael Lahood, a white man. The trial judge, the prosecutor, and the jury that sentenced him to die admit he never killed anyone. Foster is scheduled to be executed under a controversial Texan law known as the law of parties. The law imposes the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred. In Foster's case he was driving a car with three passengers, one of whom left the car, got into an altercation and shot Lahood dead. We broadcast a rare interview of Kenneth Foster from death row and speak to his family in Texas as well a journalist who has closely followed his case.

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Three weeks from today, a 30 year-old African American man on death row in Texas is scheduled to be executed. Kenneth Foster was sentenced to death ten years ago in a San Antonio court for the murder of Michael Lahood, a white man, in 1996. What makes Foster's case unique is that he didn't commit or plan the murder. Even the trial judge, the prosecutor, and the jury that sentenced him to die admit he never killed anyone.

Foster is scheduled to be executed under a controversial Texan law known as the law of parties. The law imposes the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred. In Foster's case he was driving a car with three passengers, one of whom left the car, got into an altercation and shot a Michael LaHood dead. At the time of the shooting, Kenneth Foster was 80 feet away in his car. Since Foster's original trial, the other passengers have testified that Foster had no idea a shooting was going to take place.

On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied death row prisoner Kenneth Foster's final appeal. In a six-to-three-decision the appeals court denied Foster's final writ of habeas corpus. Foster's last recourse is the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Texas Governor Rick Perry. According to Foster"s criminal attorney, Keith Hampton, five of the seven board members must recommend clemency in order for Governor Perry to consider granting it. Kenneth Foster's scheduled execution date is August 30th.

Today, Kenneth Foster's family joins us from Austin, Texas. His wife, Tasha Narez-Foster, his eleven year old daughter Nydesha Foster and his grandfather Lawrence Foster as well as Bryan McCan from the Save Kenneth Foster Coalition. Here in our firehouse studio we are joined by former KPFT News Director Renee Feltz. Over the last five years she has interviewed more than 20 men and women on Texas Death Row, including Kenneth Foster. We welcome you all to Democracy Now.

• Bryan McCann, member of the Save Kenneth Foster campaign and an activist with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
• Renee Feltz, former news director at KPFT, Pacifica's sister station in Houston from 2002 through 2006, where she did extensive coverage of capital punishment in Texas and interviewed more than 20 men and women on Texas Death Row, including Kenneth Foster. She also works with Indymedia in Houston, and now New York, where she is studying investigative reporting at Columbia University.
• Lawrence Foster, Kenneth Foster's grandfather
• Tasha Foster, Kenneth Foster's wife
• Nydesha Foster, Kenneth Foster's 11-year-old daughter

I want to play a clip from an interview with Kenneth Foster conducted by Renee Feltz. She asked him to describe what happened on the night of August 14th, 1996 and whether he had anticipated the shooting.

• Kenneth Foster, death row prisoner in Texas

Kenneth is also a founding member of the Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement, or DRIVE. DRIVE is a novel social movement organizing against the death penalty as well as the terrible conditions faced by death row prisoners. I want to play a clip from Renee Seltz's inteview with Foster where he talks about DRIVE.

• Kenneth Foster, death row prisoner in Texas

Related Links:

SaveKennethBlogspot.com

FreeKenneth.com

To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here for our new online ordering or call 1 (888) 999-3877.

The District Clerk has misplaced Foster's case file

According to San Antonio current, the District Clerk has misplaced Foster's case file.

Losing the case, literally

The object of the Queque's ire this week is three-fold, and we'll start with the Bexar County District Clerk's Office by way of Kenneth Foster, innocent man on death row.

Regular Questers know that on August 30 the state plans to administer the lethal injection to Foster, an inmate from San Antonio who didn't actually murder anyone. Foster was convicted under the archaic "law of parties" for being in the same car, 80 feet away, from the guy who did shoot the son of a prominent local attorney. So far, the Austin American-Statesman has called for the governor to commute Foster's sentence, as has local blogger Sean-Paul Kelley, who names the victim as one of his best friends. Even Le Monde, the French newspaper of record, dispatched a reporter to interview Foster, who's still waiting for a visit from his hometown daily, the Express-News. In an interview two weeks ago, the Queque told Foster not to hold his breath; the daily, we've heard, has yet to replace their death-penalty reporter Maro Robbins, who departed last month to study law.

Even if they do set a last-minute newshound on the hunt, they're going to run into the same paper-trail obstacle the Queque faced at District Clerk Margaret Montemayor's office. The Queque filed a request to view Foster's case file a month ago, and we've yet to set our paws on it, despite the 10-day maximum wait. What's the hold-up? According to an assistant clerk in the criminal-records department, the archives department misplaced Foster's file and is currently checking each and every storage shelf to find it.

For those interested in hearing more about his case, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is hosting a roundtable with Foster's family on Tuesday at the Carver Library in Austin. For more info, email
cedpaustin@gmail.com.

Tomorrow: Kenneth Foster on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman

As many of you know, the Court of Criminal Appeals has denied Kenneth's final appeal. That takes the matter mostly out of the courtroom and puts it in the hands of the governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. It also makes it ever more urgent for us to fight on all possible fronts to stop this execution.

Please tune in to Democracy Now tomorrow, where they'll be doing a show dedicated specifically to the fight to save Kenneth Foster, Jr.

If you are in Austin, you can tune in tomorrow from noon to 1pm on KAZI 88.7FM, or on Austin Community TV (channel 16) from 6-7 PM. You can also watch the show online or look for local show times at http://www.democracynow.org

The only remaining option to stop this execution is with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry. In order to convince the Governor and the BPP to act, we need to convince members of the Texas Legislature to urge Perry and the BPP to stop this execution, so click above and take action.

Click Here to Urge Texas Legislators to Pressure Governor Perry to Stop Kenneth Foster, Jr's Execution

Sentenced to die for having seen a crime

Thats the title of an article by the French daily paper Le Monde. The article is in French, however here is the English translation.

Le Monde
Nicolas Bourcier
August 4th, 2007

DR for death row. Two initials marked on Kenneth Foster's white
pants. Two indelible letters to underline, as if it were necessary,
that the countdown has started. Since May this young death row
prisoner, 30-year old, knows the Texas authorities have set his
execution date for August 30th, a Thursday, around 6pm. A date and a
time programmed 10 years ago, almost to the day, when he was
sentenced to death by a court in San Antonio not for having killed
someone but for not having ever, according to the jury, premeditated
or anticipated a crime and having ran away in a car with the
murderer. Kenneth Foster is here, he stands in one of the visiting
cages at the Polunsky Unit, home of Texas death row, made of steel
and concrete, lost somewhere on a country road in Livingston, a small
ordinary town north of Houston. The guard locks the door and
mechanically unlocks the cuffs behind his back.

He sits down. He sets his watch down in front of the safety glass
partition as to better control time, the forty-five minutes granted
for the interview. He smiles. "Hello" he says while picking up the
phone. "How are you?" Apparently calm, Kenneth Foster does not
demonstrate any signs of weakness, no attempt to dominate his fear.
Tall guy with immediate charm, he speaks well, aptly uses the flow of
words such as the rap musician he would have liked to become before
his arrest.

He keeps the hard times to himself, as to protect himself, within the
four walls of his tiny cell, of the fatal instant and from the
intrusion by the department of corrections, which take a prisoner to
his death in Huntsville, a near-by town where Texas executes its
death row prisoners by lethal injection. Yesterday it was Lonnie
Earl Johnson's turn, a companion, "a friend" whom he had known for
nine years. "Those moments are hard, they strike the spirit,
challenge the intellect and the emotions... One keeps looking at one's
watch."

He says he does not have any "hatred or anger, only rage but the
positive kind that feeds energy, the fuel". The system? "I know it is
unfair, I know the underlying dose of racism in the United States.
But it is up to us to be intelligent, at least as much as those who
lead us." Not once does he accuse those who sentenced him based on
the color of his skin. He will not mention the victim's father,
Michael Lahood, a white attorney in San Antonio. Kenneth Foster does
not raise the hopeless injustice of being born on the wrong side of
the social fence. He simply sticks to the facts, recalls that he
never killed anyone and that he was incapable of predicting that
Mauriceo Brown, one of the three men he went out with that night of
August 1996, was going to kill a certain Michael Lahood Jr.

On two occasions that night, he attempted to stop this night trip and
to leave the small group he hardly knew and that had just committed
two pathetic robberies, stealing $300 from passers-by picked at
random. When the shot was fired, he said he did not understand what
was going on, he saw nothing, only the pale and panting face of
Mauriceo Brown who had come out of the car a few seconds ago to
follow a girl in a private property. Kenneth Foster got scared. In
one move, he put his foot down on the throttle. He was 19 years old
and had just borrowed his grandfather's car, the only member of his
family who cared for him.

Then came the trial, those "neverending lines of errors", this first
court-appointed attorney "who was obviously a beginner", the
magistrate who refused to try him separately from the murderer, the
testimony of a confused Julius Steen, the third man who will change
his deposition on two occasions years later, to affirm that he had
not played any direct or indirect part in the death of young Lahood.

Kenneth Foster was tried under the law of parties, which allows the
sentencing of secondary participants to a crime. A law passed by half
a dozen states in the 70's, but that only Texas uses for capital
punishment. In total, experts estimate that this law has been a
determining factor in the execution of twenty death row prisoners.

The death row prisoner nods gently, takes a breath. Five times during
his appeals he asked to be re-tried, five times his request was
denied. Those years of procedure have only brought him technically
closer to death, one court order after another. "Once started, this
machinery is very hard to stop" he explains, almost in a professional
manner.

Also sentenced to death, Mauriceo Brown was executed on July 17th,
2006. Kenneth Foster says it hit him, but hardly makes a comment: "I
was never very close to him, not even here in prison."

Kenneth Foster still hopes the nine Judges of the CCA in Austin will
review his sentence in the next few days, or that the Board of
Pardons and Paroles and Governor Perry, who has never granted
clemency, will grant him a new trial. He says: "Yes Texas is the
state where the largest number of prisoners are executed in this
country, nineteen since the beginning of the year." And states: "I do
no want prayers or candles. I want people to fight and stand up for
me, to show these politicians that some people think differently."

Kenneth Foster looks at his watch and signals we have little time
left. "It's getting close" he whispers in the phone. On his fingers,
he counts the number of scheduled executions before his: four out of
the 390 death row prisoners confined within these walls. "I have to
be vigilant and precise with the numbers. Each decision by the
authorities is important for me."

He says he gets information from his attorneys, his loved ones who
visit him regularly, from the radio mostly the public channel NPR.
"Can you imagine, we don't even have a television..." An additional
punishment by the system, according to him, a daily sanction which
comes on top of the "privilege" to make one five-minute phone call
every ninety days. He adds, while picking up his watch: "Each death
sentence is a regression, a defeat for society. In any case it will
never be a solution no matter what the crime, as unforgivable as it
may be." He stands up. His 13-year old daughter is due to visit him
later this week. He puts the phone down and smiles one last time.

Vicki Panetti 'SheMonster' - Death by Texas

Vicki Penetti is sister of death-row inmate Scott Panetti.

'I shouldn't have to abandon my humanity, my dignity'

Thats the title of Bob Ray Sander's second column in Fort Worth Star-Telegram. What started with a group of dedicated activists and a rally in Austin is growing into a national movement as mainstream media picks up his case and local editorial boards take stands. The Board of Pardons and Parole is definitely taking notice and hopefully will recommend governor Perry to commute Kenneth Foster's sentence to life in prison.

Kenneth Foster Jr. has an appointment he hopes not to keep.

He is scheduled to die Aug. 30 in the Texas prison system's death chamber.

If it comes to that, Foster says he is ready. But as I pointed out in Sunday's column, Foster never should have gotten the death penalty in the murder of Michael LaHood of San Antonio.

In fact, Mauriceo Brown, the man who killed LaHood in 1996, was executed a year ago for the crime.

Foster and two other people were with Brown most of the evening that LaHood was killed, but all the evidence -- including Brown's testimony at trial -- clearly shows that neither Foster nor the other men knew about, planned, participated in or anticipated Brown's act.

But under Texas' "law of parties," and partly because Foster was tried along with Brown, he was convicted and given a death sentence.

Although a federal judge overturned that sentence, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

Foster does not deserve to die, and he and others are fighting to stop the execution through more appeals to the courts, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and directly to the governor's office.

As promised Sunday, I want to share some of Foster's thoughts on his scheduled execution, Texas' Death Row, and the victim and his family.

"I got a strong heart. I got a strong heart," Foster told me on a recent visit to Death Row. "I don't have any fear toward death. If we have to walk that path, then I'll walk it."

He added, "If they do murder me -- and it will be murder -- then I'm prepared."

Foster has become active in fighting for inmates' rights on Death Row, and like another former inmate we knew -- Gary Graham, executed in 2000 while still maintaining his innocence -- he said he doesn't plan to go to his death quietly after "eating nine cheeseburgers that you can't digest."

He stated emphatically: "I won't be walking. I won't have no last meal. If they want me executed, they are going to have to throw me on that gurney.

"It's genocide. Covert genocide. They are approaching 400 murders here."

Texas has executed 398 people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1974.

In reference to LaHood, Foster said: "I've been accused of not reaching out to the victim's family. We never wanted the family to feel we were indifferent to their loss. I pray for that family. They don't know.

"I thought it would be rude to them for me to write a letter ... My father wrote to them, and a friend of the family's wrote them."

He noted that he's been getting a lot of hate mail (from people sympathetic to the LaHood family) on a Web site set up by his supporters, yet he continuously thinks about the people whom the victim left behind.

"If they want atonement, I can give them atonement," he said. "If they want vengeance, I can't help them.

"I have a lot of respect for that family .... I've repeated to my supporters to keep the victim in mind."

Foster, whose 11-year-old daughter was only 8 months old when he was charged with this crime, said his child comes to Texas from California once a month to visit him.

"She's a soldier," he said of his daughter.

As for his experience on the nation's busiest Death Row, he said: "There's something ugly and beautiful about Death Row. It's ugly what we have to go through here. It's a beautiful process with what you go through spiritually and emotionally."

He vowed that no matter what happens, there are some things to which he simply will not succumb.

"I can't surrender my humanity," he said. "Yeah, I made a mistake; let me correct it. I shouldn't have to abandon my humanity, my dignity."

Humanity should compel us to try to save this innocent man's life.

JOIN THE FIGHT

Contact the governor's office or the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to object to the execution of Kenneth Foster Jr.

Gov. Rick Perry

Mail: State Capitol, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711-2428

Telephone: 512-463-2000

Fax: 512-463-1849

E-mail: Use the form at www.governor.state.tx.us/contact

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

Mail: P.O. Box 13401, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711

Bob Ray Sanders' column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. 817-390-7775
bobray@star-telegram.com

Tell Alberto Gonzales to Slow Down the Death Penalty Fast Track!

When Congress re-authorized the Patriot Act in 2005, it adopted a new procedure intended to speed up death penalty appeals in federal court. Under the new system, individual states may apply to the U.S. Attorney General for “fast-track procedures.” These procedures limit review of death penalty cases in federal court. Before, the courts decided if states qualified for this short-cut review; now, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales makes the decision.

The Attorney General has released proposed regulations that, if adopted, will govern his review of state applications. But he has permitted only a short time for public comment on these regulations. Comments must be received by August 6, 2007.

Given the critical nature of the Attorney General’s decision, it is vital that the public submit comments to insist that the Attorney General ensure that states provide indigent people on death row with minimally competent attorneys and adequate resources to raise claims of innocence and constitutional challenges to death sentences.

Take Action Now! Tell Alberto Gonzales to Slow Down the Death Penalty Fast Track!

Kenneth Foster's letter to Governor Rick Perry

Kenneth E. Foster, Jr.
#999232
Polunsky Unit (Death Row)
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351

Texas Governor Rick Perry
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711

Dear Governor Perry,

Unaware of what I could possibly say that could make a difference, I decided to grasp this opportunity to write to you from my heart, because I believe that God declares for us to live each day to the fullest. While I know that you will be bombarded with letters from people, spoken to by legal representatives and addressed by the media, this is written on a personal basis.

I know that you will have detailed information about my case and the Law of Parties. However, please never forget that although I did not protest when Mauriceo Brown wanted to commit robberies, later I recognized that this was wrong to go along with, and out of respect for my grandfather, I said I had to stop. After I said I wanted to go home, Mauriceo Brown got out of the car to talk to Mary Patrick, and got into an argument with Michael LaHood, which ended with Mauriceo Brown shooting him, of which I had no foreknowledge and would never have permitted, had I known it were going to happen.

I would like to talk from another perspective. What can I say about this death row journey? It has been a curse and a blessing, because as ironic as it may be most humans fear the only thing they are promised at birth and that is death. And as the irony continues, one (here) learns to live by facing death. It’s a stunning process. Yet, for each man he experiences something different. I’ve observed some of the most complex and intricate human behavior probably on this earth - enough experience to more than likely surpass the credentials of any anthropologist or psychologist. I’ve watched the dreams and nightmares, the hope and despair. I could write a book on it and speak volumes to it. But, I will only say that I thank God for allowing me to journey through this keeping my sanity and being anointed with a gift to learn, grow, and pass on positivity.

There’s so much that the world doesn’t see - so much that politics will bar, but regardless of it all, a man still has the opportunity to tap into the beauty of humanity and experience that regardless of his outside circumstances. I just wish that you all could see it. I do realize that you feel you have a certain Justice to serve. I’ve come so far in my journey that I no longer hold spite, because I’ve been granted an Understanding that is keeping me. It was a quote that I read once that said - "To maim and destroy the body of man is no deed of recognition for valor, whether in war or in mortal conflict. But, to save a body, which is the temple of the soul, is an act and deed of the God-like." Those words changed me, because it was just as much about me as anyone else.

Governor Perry, I don’t think that I have to detail why I feel my situation is unjust - either personally or politically. I believe that all the evidence and letters will speak so loud to you. However, I think it’s important to tell you that I have tried to use this situation as a transformation process. Everyday I have tried to be an exception to the stigmas and stereotypes. I wanted to show that a man here could be more than his error or labels. And so, as I submitted myself, I found the heart to pray for you and your family, the victim and his family, my co-defendants and their family. I’ve discovered (and hopefully others will, too,) that the pain, sorrow and compensation is not taken care of through simply saying I’m sorry or through hundreds of executions, rather giving love everyday, helping someone, speaking truth to power - showing that one man with courage can be a majority. The only Joy I have is in educating, reforming and revitalizing; and if you believe it or not I do this because of you all, not myself. Because if I did anything for me I’d be a wretch, but through you all (those that love me or not,) I’ve found humanity embracing me. I’m thankful, regardless.

You’re a history maker, Governor Perry, and I am a part of your history and I think what happens to me will be a relevant part of history. I wish I could appeal not only to your morale and conscience, but to your soul. I wish we could talk about the last 10 years and everything between. I wish we could view the way each life through this process has been touched. Often the Divine is revealed through the hardest trials and tribulations.

My only plea is that I wish I could live for the sake of my little daughter who will be so deeply wounded to not have her daddy. I do not want to be set free. I want to pay for what I did. I drove a car and let a man rob other people. That is not a capital crime. I allowed Mauriceo Brown to get back in the car. Because of my own blatant shock and disbelief at what had just occurred, I helped him leave a crime scene. That is not a capital crime. I never sought nor desired that Michael LaHood, Jr. be killed.

I wrote this letter from the heart, just trying to show you how one can transform, how beauty does persist, how change can come. I prayed different Psalms and Proverbs over this letter. I’ve passionately spoken all of my request for Forgiveness, Peace, Life, Justice, Freedom, Love, Understanding to The Creator and His Creation. I stand on the Faith knowing that all of the roles we have played in this walk of life will have a greater purpose. I’m glad to have had this opportunity to speak with you.

With God’s Love,

Kenneth Foster

Kenneth Foster, Jr.: An Innocent Man Texas Will Soon Execute

Thats the title of an opinion by Sean-Paul Kelley in Huffington Post (also on Yahoo news) about execution of Kenneth Foster.

You see, one night in August 1996 one of my best friends, Michael LaHood, was murdered by Mauriceo Brown. And Kenneth Foster, Jr. was driving for Mauriceo that night. I don't know what the circumstances of Kenneth's involvement were beyond the fact that he was still in the car when Mauriceo pulled the trigger that sent a bullet through my friend's brain, ending his life immediately.

Was he being forced to drive? Or was he along for the ride? I don't care. Kenneth deserves and is receiving punishment for his role in the tragedy that occurred that night. But whatever punishment Kenneth does deserve for his role in my friend's cruel murder, execution should not ever have been (or be) an option. He did not pull the trigger, or encourage Mr. Brown to pull it in any way, nor was he even aware that the murder was being contemplated or had been committed until after the fact. His punishment should not be execution.

But we are in Texas and in Texas, barbaric laws prevail, like something out of Beowulf or the Old Testament or Reservoir Dogs -- one of the very few movies I could not watch to the end for its unspeakable cruelty. Never mind that we are in the 21^st century. Never mind that we are supposed to be modern. Read more...

Welfare Poets for Kenneth Foster

The following is another music video by Welfare Poets who traveled all the way from New York to Texas in order to perform at the Rodney Reed rally last weekend. Welfare Poets are a collective of activists, educators, and artists together since 1990. Through teaching residencies and workshops, through activism around community struggles and through sharp-edged performances of music that incorporates Hip Hop, Bomba y Plena, Latin Jazz and other rhythms.

Kenneth Haramia Foster along with Tony Egbuna Ford, Randy Arroyo and the late Hasan Shakur (executed unjustly by the state of Texas on August 31st 2006) contacted the Welfare Poets in 2004 and asked for our assistance in their individual cases and with abolishing the death penalty in general. These four brothers have been movers and shakers on death row. They are all artists, writers, thinkers and organizers on behind the walls who have fought to change things not only for themselves but for everyone else who yearn for true justice. The initial contact has led to the creation of a Hip Hop CD against the death penalty "Cruel and Unusual Punishment." The album was officially released Feb. 1st 2007, and on this past May 1st 2007, the news came down regarding Kenneth's execution date.

25000 visitors and counting...

During the last 48 hours or so, Texas Death Penalty blog received its 25,000th visitor! In order to celebrate this milestone, in the next few weeks we will add some new student bloggers.
Thanks to all visitors.

Wait, btw we survived the stock market crash last week. The numbers are in and we are doing great.


Click on image for larger version

28 Jul 2007 B$260.32
29 May 2007 B$265.19

An appointment with death despite the evidence

Thats the title of an opinion piece by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer, Bob Ray Sanders against the execution of Kenneth Foster.

Another trip to Death Row.

Another man scheduled to die on the gurney in Texas' infamous killing chamber.

Another human being who does not deserve this tragic fate.

And another case that speaks to the absurdity of how capital punishment is applied in general throughout this country, but particularly in the Lone Star State.

The case of Kenneth Foster Jr., scheduled to die next month for a 1996 murder in San Antonio, is further proof of how cruel, capricious, unjust and utterly insane our death penalty laws have become.

Because of this tainted system, whether you believe in capital punishment or not, a man who did not plan or commit a murder will die Aug. 30 unless somebody -- a judge, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and/or the governor -- has the heart and the guts to stop it.

On Aug. 14, 1996, Foster -- who was 19 at the time -- was driving around with two guys he recently had met, Dewayne Dillard and Julius Steen. They were in a car that had been rented by Foster's grandfather, the man who basically had raised him since he was in the fourth grade because "my mother and father ran the streets," he said.

According to Steen's testimony, they were "just goofing off, more or less, and smoking some weed" when they decided to pick up a fourth person, Mauriceo Brown, who rode with them into the night.

Testimony showed that at some point, Brown announced that because they had a gun, they ought to "jack" someone.

With Foster as the driver, Steen and Brown first got out of the car and robbed a Hispanic woman at gunpoint and later robbed a man and two women in a parking lot.

On their way home, they came off the freeway and ended up in a residential neighborhood and saw, according to court documents, "a scantily-clad woman, Mary Patrick, who approached them and demanded to know why they were following her."

As it turned out, Patrick had been following her friend Michael LaHood to his home, and the car driven by Foster was right behind their two cars until they came to a dead end and turned around.

After seeing Patrick standing at the edge of the driveway, they assumed there was a party going on. They stopped and chatted with her for a few seconds, when she started cursing Steen and accusing the group of following her.

Foster put his foot on the gas and prepared to leave, he said, knowing he needed to get the car back to his grandfather. But Brown jumped out of the car, he said, went up the steep driveway and started talking to LaHood, who was more than 80 feet away from the car.

He said he heard a "pop," and when Brown got back to the car, "We're asking -- everybody's asking -- what went down? What happened?"

Brown had shot LaHood.

Shortly afterward, the four men would be arrested and later charged with capital murder.

Dillard and Steen were never made available to Foster's attorney while the district attorney held other cases over them. The district attorney chose to try Foster and Brown together, and the judge refused to sever the cases.

Foster was convicted along with Brown under the Texas "law of parties," even though he never participated in, intended for or anticipated a murder.

Prosecutors, with the help of testimony from Steen, made jurors believe that Foster had conspired in the killing and should have anticipated it.

"[Foster] was a victim of a statute that was never intended by its authors to be used this way," said Austin attorney Keith S. Hampton, who recently filed a second application for a writ of habeas corpus with the district court in San Antonio and an application for commutation of sentence with the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

"I talked to the authors, and they intended [the statute] to be used in conspiracy cases," Hampton said.

Steen has since said that he was pressured by the prosecutors to give the trial testimony and has signed an affidavit clarifying that he did not intend to imply that Foster was aware of what Brown was about to do. Brown himself testified that neither Foster nor the others had planned a robbery or a shooting of LaHood, nor did they know what he was doing.

At least one of the jurors has said in an affidavit "that he would have given a different verdict if he had known that Kenneth Foster did not anticipate that Brown would take the gun when he got out of the car, did not anticipate Brown would shoot LaHood, or that he tried to drive away when he heard the shot," according to court documents.

Federal District Judge Royal Furgeson of San Antonio overturned Foster's death sentence in 2005, saying:

"There was no evidence before Foster's sentencing jury which would have supported a finding that Foster either actually killed LaHood or that Foster intended to kill LaHood or another person. Therein lays the fundamental constitutional defect in Foster's sentence .... Therefore, Foster's death sentence is not supported by the necessary factual finding mandated [by the U.S. Supreme Court] and, for that reason, cannot withstand Eighth Amendment scrutiny."

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision. Last spring, the U.S. Supreme Court, which was considering three other Texas death penalty cases at the time, did not take Foster's appeal.

Thus, the subsequent writ application and request for commutation have been filed in an effort to save Foster's life. His supporters also have been writing to the governor and the pardons and paroles board.

"I've never tried to portray myself as an angel," Foster told me on a recent visit to Death Row. "I take responsibility. I was a follower. I was a fool for being there."

He added: "We're not saying I never did anything wrong; for this case, I did nothing wrong. I didn't conspire, I didn't participate, and I didn't plan."

Mauriceo Brown was executed for this crime on July 19, 2006. Foster's execution is set for Aug. 30.

Steen pleaded guilty to two capital murder cases and received a sentence of 35 years to life, and Dillard was given a life sentence.

Does Foster deserve a more severe sentence than Steen and Dillard?

No.

Texas has become the "capital" in "capital punishment," and it is time for us to put an end to the madness.

We can start by making sure this one innocent man's life is spared.

NOTE: In Wednesday's column, I'll tell you more about my conversation with Foster -- his views on dying, Death Row and his feelings for the victim and his family.

bobray@star-telegram.com
Bob Ray Sanders' column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. 817-390-777

"It Came From Austin" tonight at 8 PM

Backward Texas law may make man pay with life for deed he didn't do

Thats the title of Austin American-Statesman's editorial against execution of Kenneth Foster.

Kenneth Foster didn't commit murder. But that won't stop the State of Texas from executing the Austin native Aug. 30.

It was Mauriceo Brown who shot and killed Michael LaHood in San Antonio 12 years ago — not Foster. Even the prosecution agrees that Foster was 85 feet away from the murder scene. But because of the Texas Law of Parties, that simply does not matter.

Under the 33-year-old law of parties, a person can be held responsible for a crime committed by someone else. According to the law, Foster "should have anticipated" that Brown would commit murder.

Though the law has its supporters, the application in the Foster case highlights flaws.

Only a few states have a law of parties as severe as Texas and no other state applies it as frequently to capital murder cases as Texas. About 80 inmates are on death row awaiting execution under the law of parties. They may not have done the actual killing, but they were along for the ride.

In a case similar to Foster's, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment "does not allow the death penalty for a person who is a minor participant in a felony and does not kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill."

New testimony shows Foster didn't play a major role in the shooting that took the life of LaHood on Aug. 14, 1996.

In the original trial, Foster's court-appointed lawyer failed to bring up key points that might have vindicated Foster. The same lawyer submitted a 20-page appellate brief in the Foster case — laughably short for a death penalty case. The lawyer also failed to pursue key testimony.

When Keith Hampton, an Austin lawyer skilled in criminal appellate work, took over Foster's case, he remembers thinking, "Wait a minute, this guy is on death row?" He uncovered new testimony that ultimately won a stay in Foster's case. Unfortunately, the ruling was overturned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Foster was no angel. He and three other men in the car — Brown, Julius Steen and Dwayne Dillard — had committed two armed robberies earlier that night. But the new testimony from Steen and Dillard shows that the men had no role in planning or carrying out a murder.

According to Steen and Dillard, Foster repeatedly pleaded with them and Brown, while in the car, to return home before they encountered LaHood. He also tried to drive away when he heard the gunshots, but Steen and Dillard made him stop and wait for Brown, who was executed for his part in the crime last year.

With a month left until Foster's scheduled execution, his supporters are left with two options: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals must rule in favor of Foster, or the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend commuting Foster's sentence. If the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends commutation, Gov. Rick Perry decides Foster's fate.

Considering Perry's track record on commuting executions, it is unlikely that Perry will decide in favor of Foster, even though he should.

Neither the governor nor the Court of Criminal Appeals should allow the state to execute a man for a crime someone else committed. Foster should be punished for his part in the robberies. But the state shouldn't take his life for failing to anticipate that his friend would commit murder.

Video: Free Kenneth Foster Rally

Free Kenneth Foster Rally
July 21, 2007
Austin, Texas
www.Freekenneth.com

It Came From Austin !!!!

Benefit July 28 in Austin
WHO: Texas Moratorium Network
WHAT: "It Came From Austin!!!!" - A Benefit for the 8th annual march to stop executions and the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign
WHEN: Saturday July 28, 2007 - 8:00 PM
WHERE: The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th, Austin TX 78702
www.eastinns.com
ADMISSION: $5-$10 sliding scale, 21+

Death Row Blues by Darby Tillis

Darby Tillis and Perry Cobb, wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for a 1977 Chicago murder, were tried five times before being exonerated in 1987. The first two trials ended in hung juries, but the third resulted in convictions and death sentences. After a reversal by the Illinois Supreme Court on technical grounds, they were tried two more times before being acquitted in 1987.

Video: Mario Africa of Move - Kenneth Foster Rally

Nydesha Foster

The following is a great essay read by Nydesha Foster, daughter of death-row inmate Kenneth Foster. Nydesha is only 11 years old.

Hundreds march for Kenneth Foster

Hundreds of Texans marched down the Congress Avenue and later at the Governor's Manssion last Saturday calling on Gov. Rick Perry to stop execution of Kenneth Foster. As Scott Cobb of TMN mentioned, "The rally for Kenneth Foster last Saturday was probably the best, most well-attended, high energy protest of a pending execution in Texas since the Gary Graham protests back in 2000." The event received coverage on Democracy Now, KXAN, News 8 Austin and The Daily Texan. I will have some video clips from the rally by tomorrow.

Also last Sunday San Antonio Express-News published an OpEd by Prof. Roger C. Barnes of the Incarnate Word University.

Further, for 15 straight years, murder rates have run higher in death penalty states than in states without it. This system doesn't function as promised.

And there is growing evidence that people are starting to catch on.

First, a national Gallup Poll now reports that overall support for the death penalty has slipped from 80 percent in 1994 to 67 percent in 2006.

And, when given a choice between life without parole and the death penalty for murder, 48 percent now favor life without parole, compared to 47 percent for those who favor death.

Second, some newspapers are reversing their longstanding support for the death penalty. The Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News and Birmingham News are calling for the abolition of the death penalty.

Many others such as the Express-News, the Houston Chronicle, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have called for a moratorium on the death penalty.

Third, the willingness of capital juries to hand down death sentences appears to be on the decline. In 1996 there were 317 death sentences given nationwide. By 2005, death verdicts had declined to 128.

Fourth, while 12 states do not have the death penalty, an additional 12 states with the death penalty now find their executions on hold.

Legal challenges to the methods of execution, official moratoriums, or a ruling by the state high court have suspended executions in those states.

Lonnie Johnson 100th Harris county execution

Tuesday night Texas executed Lonnie Johnson, who became the 100th person executed from Harris County. Texas Moratorium blog has more details on Lonnie Johnson's case. According to Houston Chronicle,

The Tomball murders occurred during a racially charged summer as a campaign in neighboring Montgomery County to free Clarence Brandley from death row moved toward success. Brandley, a black high school janitor condemned for the 1980 rape-strangulation of a 16-year-old white student, was released from prison after almost 10 years.

Austin attorney Jodi Callaway Cole last week launched an appeals strategy at state and federal levels arguing that prosecutors withheld investigators' reports and other documents that could have buttressed Johnson's claim of self-defense.

George White at Texas Capitol

In the following days I will post a series of videos that includes speeches given by exonerated death-row inmates, murder victim family members, public officials and anti-death penalty activists. The following is a short video of George White talking during the Lobby day of 2007 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break in Ausin, Texas. This October George will travel to Texas as part of the annual Journey of Hope from Violence to Healing.

On February 27, 1985, the White family experienced first-hand the insanity and horror of murder. George and his wife Charlene were shot repeatedly by an armed robber at his place of business in Enterprise, Alabama. George held Charlene in his arms as her life slipped away. Their children, Tom and Christie, were only 12 and 5 at the time. The nightmare had just begun. Sixteen months later, George was charged with murdering his wife. Following a capital murder trial that was later described as "a mockery and a sham", George was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned in 1989 and he was released from prison, but George remained in legal limbo until 1992, when proof of his innocence was finally brought forward. Following a brief hearing the trial court ordered the charge against him forevermore dismissed. The nightmare had lasted more than seven years...had the State of Alabama had its way, George White would be a dead man today.

Understanding fully how easy it is to become advocates for revenge, the White family, however, rejects the death penalty as a solution and as way of healing the wounds of their loss.

Rally to Save Kenneth Foster

The State of Texas intends to execute Kenneth Foster on August 30, despite the fact that he did not murder anyone. Unlike any other state in this country, Texas utilizes a unique statute called the Law of Parties which allows the State to subject a person to death even though he did not kill, intend to kill, help or encourage anyone to do so.

RALLY AND MARCH IN AUSTIN
Saturday, July 21, 5:00 PM
Texas State Capitol, south steps

On July 21, join Kenneth's family, friends, and supporters for a march and rally with speakers, live music, and food to demand that Texas does not go through with the execution.

Some Speakers and Performers include:

Tasha Foster – Wife of Kenneth Foster and Hip Hop Performer
Nydesha Foster – Daughter of Kenneth Foster
Shujaa Graham – Exonerated Death Row Inmate from D.C.
Welfare Poets – Politically Conscious Music from NY, myspace.com/welfarepoets
Mario Africa – With MOVE, Activist from Philadelphia
Darby Tillis – Exonerated Death Row Prisoner and Blues Musician from Chicago

Plus many more!

More info: cedpaustin@gmail.com
More info about Kenneth¹s situation: http://www.freekenneth.com

************************************

National call-in / fax day on Friday, July 20
Contact Gov. Perry and tell him, "Don't execute Kenneth Foster, Jr.!"

Tel (800) 252-9600 (Texas callers)
(512) 463-1782 (Austin and out of state)
Fax (512) 463-1849

Top Ten “Fry Mumia” Myths Debunked

Steven Argue has written series of ten articles answering the top ten myths being circulated by those who advocate execution or continued prison for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Click on the image to read the first myth.

Jocks 4 Justice: Stop the Execution of Kenneth Foster. Jr.

We the undersigned are shocked that the state of Texas aims to execute
Kenneth on August 31 for the "crime" of driving a car. His 10-year-old
daughter will live without a father because of a law obscene in its
existence, and repellent in it's application.

In Texas, under a statute called the "law of parties," a person can be sent
to the death chamber even if they didn't kill anyone. Kenneth was 80 feet
away in a car with the windows rolled up when another person, Mauriceo
Brown, shot and killed Michael LaHood. The shooter then got in the car, and
Kenneth drove off.

Kenneth doesn't deny driving the car. He also doesn't deny having driven
around with Mauriceo and two other men earlier in the evening, when two
other robberies occurred, but no one was harmed. But Kenneth faces death for
being behind the wheel. No more. No less.

He has been on death row since 1997. That's 10 years, locked up for 23 hours
a day, with only one 5-minute phone call every six months.

We the undersigned call for a reexamination of this case, and hope that the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where Kenneth's final appeal rests, will
see that justice would be served by granting Kenneth a new trial.

Kenneth, in addition to being the father of a beautiful 10-year-old girl who
he adores, has become a writer, poet and activist on death row. And he
understands that the wheels of justice at times need some pushing to move in
the right direction.

"It's my belief that if this does not become a political issue," he says,
"then I have no chance."

Therefore, we lend our voice and our support to stopping the impending
execution of Kenneth Foster.

*John Carlos
*1968 Olympic Bronze Medalist.
1/2 of the immortal Black Power Salute
Olympic Project for Human Rights

*Lee Evans
*400 Meter Olympic Champion
Gold Medalist 1968 Olympics
Olympic Project for Human Rights

*Jeff "Snowman" Monson
*Ultimate Fighting Championship

*Dennis Brutus
*Former Director of SANROC (the South African Non Racialist Olympic
Committee)

*William Gerena--Rochet
*Editor of LatinoSports.com

*Toni Smith
*Former member of Manhattanville College Women's Basketball Team
Famous for her 2003 on the court stand at the start of the Iraq War.

*Neil DeMause
*Co-writer* Field Of Schemes
*
*Doug Harris
*Executive Director
Athletes United for Peace

*Lester Rodney
*Oldest Living Sportswriter
Sports Editor
*Daily Worker*, 1936-1958

*Rus Bradburd
*Former Assistant Basketball Coach University of Texas El Paso
Author* Paddy on the Hardwood: Journey through Irish Hoops

*Dave Zirin
*Columnist for Slam Magazine
Author* Welcome to the Terrordome

Shooting, Borris Miles style!

Earlier this year Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston removed a few art pieces from the Death Penalty Art Show without permission from the State Preservation Board, because he found them to be offensive toward African Americans and Christians. Houston Chronicle is now reporting that Borris Miles used a pistol and shot one of the two men who were trying to steal from the construction site of the house he is building:

Miles was upstairs at the construction site at 3742 South MacGregor Way at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when he heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate, police said. He spotted two men, Houston police spokeswoman Johanna Abad said this morning.

"He yelled at them and one threw a small pocket knife," HPD spokesman Victor Senties said. Miles pulled his weapon and "struck the suspect in the lower left leg."

The land on which Miles is building his new home is valued at $120,715, according to Harris County tax records. The 9,200-square-foot house is valued at $435,325.

Good thing no one from the Texas Moratorium Network was present at the Capitol when he discovered the art show on the morning of March 13, 2007. He might have shot them too.

Bonus videos:



A group of students went to his office during the lobby day of the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break to ask him about his action. Unfortunately as you see Rep. Miles refused to discuss his action and ended the discussion.

Mother of executed son will join relatives of Texans who have been executed to describe how the death penalty affects surviving families

By Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights

Tamara Chikunova, founder of the Uzbekistan-based group Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture, will visit the United States for the first time to speak publicly with other family members of people who have been executed. Chikunova’s son Dmitri was executed in Uzbekistan seven years ago.

Chikunova’s visit to the United States is the result of a collaborative effort between Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MVFHR) and the Third International Women’s Peace Conference. At the conference, Chikunova will speak as part of a panel titled “Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind.” Joining her on the panel will be Lois Robison, whose son Larry was executed in Texas in 2000, and Melanie Hebert, whose uncle Spencer Goodman was executed in Texas that same year.

The panel will take place on Saturday, July 14, at 2:00 PM, at the Adams Mark hotel in downtown Dallas. Chikunova will also speak at a 5:30 reception organized by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

“This is an opportunity for people in Texas to hear about how the death penalty shames and traumatizes the surviving family members, and to see that that experience is common across different cultures and nationalities,” said Susannah Sheffer of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, who will be moderating the panel.

The event takes place as Texas is preparing to carry out its 400^th execution, currently scheduled for Aug. 15. Texas by far leads the U.S. in executions, accounting for more than one-third of the almost 1,100 executions that have occurred here since 1976.

Chikunova will talk about the secrecy surrounding the death penalty in her country: she was not notified of her son’s execution date ahead of time, but learned of it when she arrived at the prison for a visit and was told Dmitri had been executed the day before. To this day, Chikunova does not know where her son is buried.

“What Tamara Chikunova went through is appalling, and we need to remember that a kind of secrecy and silence surrounds the death penalty in the United States as well,” Sheffer said. “With each execution, we create a new grieving family, and their experience is seldom taken into account when we consider the social costs of the death penalty".

“What Tamara Chikunova went through is appalling, and we need to remember that a kind of secrecy and silence surrounds the death penalty in the United States as well,” Sheffer said. “With each execution, we create a new grieving family, and their experience is seldom taken into account when we consider the social costs of the death penalty.”

For more information contact Susannah Sheffer at 617-512-2010 or sheffer@ispwest.com.

Patrick Knight's Last Statement:

Date of Execution: June 26, 2007
Offender: Knight, Patrick

Here is Patrick Knight's "Dead Man Laughing" last statement as reported by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:

Yes, I do. I thank the Lord for giving me my friends, for getting me the ones I love. Lord reach down and help innocent men on death row. Lee Taylor needs help, Bobby Hines, Steve Woods. Not all of us are innocent, but those are. Cleve Foster needs help. Melyssa, I love you girl. I know I wasn't going to say anything, but I've got to. Jack, Irene, Danny, Doreen, I love you guys. I said I was going to tell a joke. Death has set me free. That's the biggest joke, I deserve this. And the other joke is I am not Patrick Bryan Knight, and ya'll can't stop this execution now. Go ahead, I'm finished. Come on, tell me Lord. I love you Melyssa, take care of that little monster for me.

Patrick Bryan Knight, "Dead Man Laughing" executed by Texas

By Dee Hawk

Knight was the 18th inmate executed this year in Texas.

Knight was known for the "Dead Man Laughing" campaign Patrick Bryan Knight was executed by lethal injection Tuesday, and pronounced dead at 6:21 PM for the murders of Mary and Walter Werner. The Werner's were shot execution style in August of 1991. A co-defendant Bradfield received a life sentence and is currently in a Texas prison. Knight's execution was the 18th in Texas this year (CNN video).

Knight had gained notoriety for his "Dead Man laughing" campaign in which he solicited jokes to read as his last statement. His Myspace site, which was maintained by his anti-death penalty friend, received 30,000 page views, and hundreds of friend adds and comments in less than a month. Knight received over a thousand jokes by mail. Capital-"X" a death penalty opponent and rap artist, recorded an original song titled "Dead Man Laughing" and it has been playing on the Myspace page.

When asked for his last statement, Knight thanked God for his friends and asked for help for the innocent on death row, according to Michael Graczyk, Associated Press reporter who was witness to the execution. He named several men, but the names were not printed. An emotional Knight stated, "Not all of us are innocent, but those are". He went on to say, "I said I was going to tell a joke. Death has set me free. That's the biggest joke. I deserve this." and also stated "And the other joke is that I am not Patrick Bryan Knight and y'all can't stop the execution now. Go ahead, I'm finished".

Michelle Lyons who is prison spokesperson said "we fingerprint them when they come over" and disputed the mistaken identity claim.

It was not reported if there were any witnesses in the death chamber from either side, nor was it reported if Knight was granted a last meal.

Knight, 39, had said in an earlier interview with the media that the inmates on death watch were in need of jokes, and some humor "to ease the tension", and that is mainly what started the Dead Man Laughing Campaign.

He admits to drinking and doing drugs when he was young. Knight was 23 when the crime was committed, and said he didn't remember much about the murder. Knight and the Werner's had argued as neighbors about his loud music and loud cars, and Knight said of the Werner's "I regret so much because they were such good people", I'm the cause of this crime, no doubt about it" he said, "It bothers me I might be capable of taking someone's life", reported by Michael Graczyk, Associated Press.

On Monday night KDOL radio station, "All Life Is Precious" held a "Shout Out Show" for Knight. Knight was allowed to call in and say his good-byes to his friends and thank them for their support. Numerous friends and concerned people called in the show to say goodbye, or "shout out" to Patrick. Music that was chosen especially for Knight was played throughout the program. "All Life Is Precious" hosts a special show for every inmate who is to be executed.

Knight was reported by friends to have been visited hours before his execution, and seemed in good spirits. It was also reported by friends that the guards were being good to him. Throughout all the media attention Knight always claimed to have no disrespect for the victims. Knight had several nicknames he was called by his friends, Mutt-Dog, The Insane -Cajun, Worm-Dirt, and "Dead Man Laughing".

Sources:
http://www.alllifeisprecious.org/

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4922872.html

myspace.com/prisonuprise

Breaking News: Supreme Court stops execution of Scott Panetti

High court blocks execution of mentally ill killer

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the execution of a Texas killer whose lawyers argued that he should not be put to death because he is mentally ill.

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

Last update: June 28, 2007 – 9:32 AM

WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the execution of a Texas killer whose lawyers argued that he should not be put to death because he is mentally ill.

Scott Louis Panetti shot his in-laws to death 15 years ago in front of his wife and young daughter.

Panetti knows what he did, but believes that he is on death row because he preaches the word of God, his lawyers say.

Panetti's lawyers wanted the court to determine that people who cannot understand the connection between their crime and punishment because of mental illness may not be executed. The court voted 5-4 to stop his execution.

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution bars "the execution of a person who is so lacking in rational understanding that he cannot comprehend that he is being put to death because of the crime he was convicted of committing,'' they said in court papers.

Texas said the court should reject Panetti's appeal on procedural grounds. But it also argued that the court should set a tougher standard for mental illness exceptions to capital punishment. Only if a Death Row inmate "lacks the capacity to recognize that his punishment both is the result of his being convicted of capital murder and will cause his death'' should his execution be halted, the state said. Panetti is competent on that basis, it said.

The killings took place in September 1992.

A former ranch hand and native of Hayward, Wis., Panetti had a history of mental problems before his conviction, recording 14 hospital stays over 11 years.

Four courts have said he was competent when he fired his trial lawyers. A jury and two courts rejected his defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. He personally argued that only an insane person could prove the insanity defense, dressing in cowboy clothing and submitting an initial witness list that included Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy.

Then-Justice Lewis Powell said 20 years ago that a person may not be put to death if he cannot perceive "the connection between his crime and his punishment.''