by Victor Lopez
NewsWest 9HOWARD COUNTY-- It cost them nothing to join, but it could save thousands of tax dollars. Howard County Commissioners said yes, Monday morning, to joining the Public Defender Task Force, all to cut the cost of paying for a public defender in a death penalty case.
Howard County averages one capital murder case every ten years, according to Judge Mark Barr, it's a matter of doing your math. And just like an insurance policy, you never know when you're going to need it, "If you had two, it's a good deal. If you don't have any, it's a bad deal. If you have one, it's about the same."
It would cost Howard County, anywhere between $80,000.00 and $200,000.00 for a capital murder case. So it's no wonder commissioners voted to join the Public Defender Task Force, which would bring that cost down, considerably.
Judge Barr tells NewsWest 9, they are missing one key player in the game, "Howard County does not have an attorney that is certified to do capital murder cases."
There will be no expense to the county this year but as the judge explains, the fees will vary from year to year, "In 2009, we'll pay this task force a little over $10,000 and in 2011, it's a little over $8,000. I believe it escalates in 2012, to a little over 20,000 dollars."
You may call it a coincidence, but the commissioners decision to join this task force, comes at the right time. There are already two potential cases that would benefit from it.
"Of course we have one case that was kicked back to us on the Supreme Court on just the punishment phase. So they're going to have to retry that. That's possibly one. And then there's the potential of this drive-by shooting that involved the pregnant girl. That could be another one," Barr said.
Commissioners can opt out of the program with a 180 day notice. So, for now, Judge Barr says, it's a wait and see situation, "We're just gonna kinda see, check the water and see how it is."
Tuesday's vote brings good news since Howard County has faced financial difficulties in recent years.
Other counties in the Permian Basin that have already joined this task force include Ector and Martin.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Howard County Joins Public Defender Task Force
Monday, July 14, 2008
Drop All the Charges in the Yogurt Shop Case NOW!
DNA EXONORATES SCOTT AND SPRINGSTEEN!
Picket and Press Event at Yogurt Shop hearing:
Tuesday, July 15th at 12:30PM
Travis County Courthouse Plaza, off Guadalupe between 10th and 11th.
Things are heating up in the Yogurt Shop case! As many of you may know, long time CEDP member Jeannine Scott is fighting for her husband Michael Scott, who was wrongfully imprisoned for murder in this case. Several years ago, 4 teenage girls were murdered in an Austin area yogurt shop. 8 years and dozens of false confessions later, 4 young men were indicted for the murders. With no physical evidence, Robert Springsteen was sent to death row and Michael Scott given life. Two other men were not even taken to trial. The basis of the convictions were “confessions” from Mike and Robert, which have been shown to have been coerced Although both men refused to testify against each other, each of their so-called confessions were used in the other’s trial as evidence. It is on the basis of this misuse of the “confessions” that both men had their convictions thrown out and were granted new trials.
Mike’s trial has been postponed until October, while new DNA testing is done on crucial evidence from the crime scene. Recent results from that testing, as well as all prior DNA testing has fully exonerated all four men of this crime!
Jeannine Scott, wife of wrongly convicted Yogurt Shop defendant Michael Scott, has been a tireless fighter against the death penalty and has worked on behalf of so many men and women for justice over the years. With Mike’s new trial around the corner, we have a real chance to win justice and bring him home. It is our turn to do everything we can to support Jeannine now, so please come out!
China refuses to consider 250,000-strong petition
Stopped at the outside door of the building, it was refused the chance to be met by any official on the explanation that ‘this is a political issue’.
The petition, calling for the lift of state secrecy on the practice of the death penalty and a moratorium on executions, was signed by 256,457 persons from all around the world.
Earlier in the morning, the WCADP held a press conference in Hong Kong to present its demands and compare the death penalty situation in China with global trends in Asia and the rest of the world.
Death penalty remains a particular concern in China, where thousands of people continue to be sentenced to death and executed each year, often after hasty and unfair trial.
“They've destroyed my future”
“I just had one son, all my hopes rested on him. They’ve destroyed my future […] Without my son, my family and I can’t go on”, said the mother of an innocent who had been wrongfully sentenced to death and executed on the basis of confessions made under torture.
Mark Allison, China researcher for Amnesty International, reminded that important reforms were needed to improve the Chinese criminal justice system and preclude miscarriages of justice. However, he recognised the importance of a recent reform requesting the Supreme People’s Court review of death penalty sentences, which has led to a significant reduction in the number of executions, according to the Chinese authorities. He regretted that this statement could not be supported or assessed by any figure as the death penalty remains classified as a state secret.
“Polite and transparent dialogue”
“We ask for China to make transparency part of its death penalty”, said Speedy Rice, an American law professor talking on behalf of the World Coalition. “We hope that through a polite and transparent dialogue, China will restrict the number of crimes eligible for death, afford greater legal protection for the accused and, ultimately, respect its public statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council that China will one day end its use of the death penalty.”
Abolition is possible in China as it is in the rest of the world. Emily Lau, member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, reminded that Hong Kong has abolished the death penalty in 1993 and that the crime rate has been decreasing in the past ten years.
“Changes in China would have a great impact on the rest of the world and especially in Asia” said Maiko Tagusari, a lawyer from Japan and member of the Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN). She spoke after a two-day meeting of the ADPAN network clearly indicated that the momentum towards abolition is growing in the region.
The press conference had opened with a video message from Robert Badinter, French Senator, former Minister of Justice and former member of the Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee. He insisted that executions that would take place in China or elsewhere in the world during the Olympic Games would offend the integrity of human beings, which is the very principle of the Olympic spirit.
Lonnie Earl Johnson Foundation
Having read the pleadings in this case however I have been left with the strong, strong feeling that Lonnie Johnson is telling the truth, as well as that the state’s trial prosecutors suppressed evidence. The victims’ family members are of course outraged that their children are now dead at the hands of Johnson, what parent wouldn’t be. The question though is not the outrage at the children’s death but did Johnson kill in cold blood or in self-defense. The state suppressed evidence that went directly to that point.
I firmly believe that everyone should be entitled to a fair trial. Johnson, imo (in my opinion), was denied that right. The jury was denied, imo (in my opinion), the right to hear that evidence before condemning this man to death. The appellate courts were entitled to review that evidence without having to apply the Arcane & Byzantine rules of procedural default, abuse of the writ & deference.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Sanders: Another troubling Dallas case
The case of Carlton Akee Turner, who is scheduled for the Texas death chamber Thursday evening, presents the state and its noble citizens a whole set of conundrums:
What really should be done with troubled youths who commit horrible crimes?
Do we truly care about the feelings of the victims’ families and how they view "closure"?
How should our highest criminal court deal with cases from Dallas County particularly, with its history of racism, terribly flawed investigations and what some see as true "criminal" prosecution tactics of the recent past?
At what point do the people of Texas say "enough is enough" when it comes to capital punishment, even for those who committed a crime, as Turner most certainly did?
Many of you will remember the case of the Irving teenager arrested and charged with murdering his own parents, two revered people in the community who had adopted him as an 11-month-old baby.
The news shocked North Texas, and many people were asking at the time, "How could he have done that?" That question still haunts Turner family members, many of whom want to see the young man’s life spared.
Turner, called "Akee" by family members, was born on an Indian reservation in Utah on Independence Day, 1979, according to a clemency petition filed with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles by representatives of the University of Texas School of Law Capital Punishment Clinic.
"As a child of a Native American woman and a black man, he was not accepted by his mother’s tribe," the petition said.
Carlton Turner Sr. and his wife, Tonya, and the child moved around the country because of the elder Turner’s military career. And they often visited family in Pennsylvania together.
Other family members saw a happy couple with a delightfully "cute" child — a stable household with no problems.
But, according to the petition, "While Tonya and Carlton presented the picture of a happy well adjusted family, troubles started at an early age. Akee exhibited learning and behavioral problems as early as elementary school. These continued throughout his school years. His problems were only exacerbated by his father’s strict and abusive punishments. He suffered broken fingers, cuts, bruises and a broken leg (after his father threw him to the ground when he was seven years old), and endured many trips to the hospital as a result of his father’s punishment."
Turner, 19 at the time he shot his parents, testified about the abuse and said he killed his father in self-defense. He said he didn’t know why he killed his mother.
After the shooting, he dragged their bodies to the garage, where police found them three days later after obtaining a search warrant.
The facts about the crime were presented in court and don’t really play a part in the requests for clemency, something rarely granted in Texas under any circumstance.
Maurie Levin, an attorney with the UT law school’s Capital Punishment Clinic, argues in the petition and a supplement that Turner’s sentence should be commuted to life on two grounds: Dallas County’s history (including in this case) of excluding black people from juries in capital cases, and the fact that relatives of his dead parents — also members of his family — don’t want him executed.
Turner was convicted by an all-white jury, and anecdotal evidence suggests that no black people even made it to the voir dire (or questioning) part of jury selection. Jurors who expressed reservations about capital punishment on their questionnaires, a disproportionate number being African-American, were rejected "despite the fact that they may have been legally qualified to serve," the attorney said in her supplement to the petition.
Because of the practice of excluding blacks from capital cases in Dallas County, both prosecutors and defense lawyers were complicit in this tainted procedure, the petition says. "The capital prosecution of an African American man by an all white jury from a jurisdiction with such an extensive record of discrimination in exactly that arena should cause doubts in the first instance," the petition said. "Where . . . there is evidence of a deeper level of discrimination that is, by its nature, well camouflaged, a call for a halt to Mr. Turner’s scheduled execution is compelled, at least until further investigation can be conducted."
Noting a quote from Gov. Rick Perry that we "never forget the impact felt by crime victims," the attorney points out that the "vast majority" of Tony and Carlton Turner Sr.’s family members do not want to see the couple’s son executed.
"Executions are held out as a talisman that will provide the victim with closure," said the petition. "This belief serves in part as a rationale for executions. But, in Mr. Turner’s case, an 'eye for an eye’ truly does leave a family blind, twice robbed of their own."
Affidavits from three family members were submitted with the petition.
Kelly Johnson of Philadelphia, Tonya’s brother, wrote: "I do not wish to see my sister’s only child executed. I believe in my heart that my sister would only have wanted Akee to receive the help that he needed to restore his mind to a sound state."
Tonya Turner’s first cousin and close friend, Krishell Coleman of Lawrenceville, Ga., said, "I don’t think Carlton should be executed. I don’t want him to be executed. Now that I know more of the details that led to the murders, I realize that he needs help. Killing him is just another murder. Nothing is going to bring my cousin back. Killing him will just hurt our family again, the way Tonya and Carlton’s murders did."
The Board of Pardons and Paroles should recommend that the governor commute the sentence, and Perry should heed that advice.
Bob Ray Sanders’ column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. 817-390-7775
Friday, July 04, 2008
Pakistan's parliament bans the death penalty
by Qaiser Felix
The bill launched by the premier to commemorate Benazir Bhutto was ratified by the government and now awaits President Musharraf’s signature. Welcomed by human rights groups, who are demanding improved rehabilitation programmes for prisoners.Karachi (AsiaNews) – An end to the death penalty in Pakistan: the historic decision, approved by parliament and launched by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, now awaits the signature of President Musharraf before becoming law, but the act should be pure formality.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman announced Parliaments turning over a new leaf yesterday: a ban on capital punishment, and all death row sentences commuted to life in prison. It is a personal success story for the premier who had pusher for the reform to honour the anniversary of the birth of Benazir Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan’s People’s Party assassinated December 27th last.
"We welcome the decision made by the government of Pakistan”, said Nadeem Anthony of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, adding that "there is still more to be done particularly in the field of prisoner rehabilitation, so that they may one day be reintegrated into society”.
According to Nadeem the number of “sentences” and “executions” in Pakistan is among “the highest in the world: according to HRCP study at the moment in Pakistan there are 7,500 prisoners are on death row, including a few women ". It must also be underlined that “the imposition of capital punishment has not contributed to reduce the crime rate”, that human rights are “fundamental norms” and the death penalty is a “misconception of justice and denial of fundamental right to life”.
Currently it is still not clear if the criminals to benefit from the norm will include those accused of drug trafficking, terrorism or espionage. Islamists are strongly opposed to the move and see the commuting of the sentence as being opposed to the Koran: the Catholic Church for its part is fully behind the initiative, having long defined the death penalty as “inhuman” particularly because it denies the possibility of repentance and forgiveness.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Jester Leroy's execution stayed
BY TIM MADIGAN
A state judge in Sherman has postponed the July 22 execution date of Lester Leroy Bower Jr. and plans to hold hearings that could involve the Arlington man’s claims of innocence.
Bower’s stay of execution, signed late Monday by Judge Jim Fallon, was the latest twist in a case that began nearly a quarter-century ago when four men were found shot to death inside an airplane hangar near Sherman. In 1984, Bower was convicted and sent to Texas’ Death Row, where he has survived five execution dates during a lengthy appellate process.
Prosecutors contended at his trial that Bower, now 60, killed Bob Tate, Ronald Mayes, Jerry Mack Brown and Philip Good during the theft of an ultralight aircraft. But defense lawyers have uncovered witnesses who allege that other men were the killers and that the massacre occurred during a drug deal gone bad.
"My reaction is mixed," Shari Bower, the condemned man’s wife, said Wednesday of the stay. "We’ve been doing this for 24 years. By the same token, this is what we’ve been praying for, to get back into court and have someone look at the evidence. Now our prayers are going to go out that this judge will see the validity of all this."
News of Bower’s stay also inspired complicated emotions among survivors of the victims, including Lorna Mayes Murphy, the only daughter of Ronald Mayes. Murphy was 13 when her father was slain and named her first child after him.
"You learn to live with that over the years," she said Wednesday of her grief. "You don’t hear about it. You don’t talk about it. But now, when it comes back, this sadness, this sense of loss, it’s like losing him all over again. . . .There has to be some closure for the families."
Yet Murphy said the new evidence has raised questions in her mind about whether the right man was convicted.
"I want to believe they’ve found the man who did this. I want to believe it was Bower," Murphy said. "I can’t help it when they’re starting to bring other evidence up. Did they get the right person? And if they didn’t, they need to find the right person. I just want it to be right. I want it to be done and be over."
Mayes’ widow and Murphy’s stepmother, Paula Mayes, said Wednesday she has no doubt that Bower is the killer. Bower’s stay was another devastating setback in her ongoing attempts to heal, she said.
"I mean, there is enough evidence against him that it would almost convince people there was an eyewitness," Paula Mayes said. "To me, he [Bower] is the scum of the earth. I have forgiven him and tried to move on, but he keeps weaseling his way back into my life and I think it’s wrong. This has been going on for 25 years and it’s all about his rights. What about our rights?"
The case
From the time of his arrest, Bower, a family man and chemical salesman, has denied involvement in the killings. He has acknowledged visiting the hangar the afternoon of the crimes to buy an ultralight aircraft from Tate. But when first questioned by investigators, Bower repeatedly denied making the trip to the hangar, fabrications that likely played a large role in his conviction. He was arrested when parts of the ultralight belonging to Tate were found in his Arlington residence. Bower was also known to have the same kind of weapon and exotic ammunition that was used in the massacre.
But six years after the killings, a witness came forward to tell defense lawyers that her then-boyfriend talked about participating in the killings and mentioned three accomplices. The wife of one of the other alternative suspects recently told defense investigators that she overheard similar discussions about the slayings. Lawyers for Bower say they have confirmed several other key aspects of the new scenario. The names of the witnesses and suspects have been kept under court seal.
In recent motions, Bower’s lawyers have asked Fallon to allow new DNA analysis of hair and cigarette butts found at the crime scene. The defense hopes that the testing might link one of the other suspects to the crime. Citing the new evidence, Bower has also asked Fallon to set aside his conviction and death sentence. The judge could consider both requests during hearings in the next few weeks.
"We do very much appreciate an opportunity to present those issues when the parties and the court are not operating under the emotional pressure that comes with an imminent execution date," defense lawyer Anthony Roth said.
Did they get the right person? And if they didn’t, they need to find the right person. I just want it to be right. I want it to be done and be over."
Lorna Mayes Murphy,
the only daughter of Ronald Mayes
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Paul House will be released today
Paul Gregory House will celebrate the Fourth of July at home this Friday thanks to an anonymous donor who sent his mother the $10,000 bail needed for his release from state custody.
House, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, is set for release today at 9:30 a.m. from the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville.
"I was in tears because I couldn't find an appraiser for a property bond," said his mother, Joyce House. "Then I got an anonymous caller who said they were going to put up the money. There are angels out there. One day I hope to meet them."
House, 46, was on death row for 22 years after being convicted in 1986 of murdering Carolyn Muncey in East Tennessee. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded in 2006 that a jury, based upon DNA evidence that emerged years after his trial, could find reasonable doubt in the case. House has maintained his innocence.
U.S. District Court Judge Harry Mattice Jr. ordered the state to release House or retry him within 180 days, and an appeals court upheld Mattice's decision.
Prosecutors said they would retry House, and a state court judge in Union County set a $500,000 bond. Another judge reduced the bond to $100,000. At least 10 percent of that amount was required for House's release.
House's mother planned to use her Crossville home for a property bond to get her son released from jail while awaiting his second trial in October.
Under the bail conditions set by a judge, House can only leave his mother's home for medical appointments and court appearances. He will have a 24-hour electronic monitoring system and has to register as a sex offender. No firearms are allowed in the house.
Groups declare victory
The state does not plan to seek the death penalty during the second trial, and anti-death penalty organizations already have declared victory.
"We are so grateful to all the Tennesseans and people all over the country who have supported our work to free Paul House," said Stacy Rector, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing.
Contact Chris Echegaray at 664-2144 or cechegaray@tennessean.com.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Artificial brain predicts death-row executions
Intro to New Scientist article...WHICH inmates on death row will eventually be executed? Many never make the final journey from prison cell to execution chamber - but nobody really understands who will be spared.
Until now. A new computer system can predict which death row prisoners will live and which will be killed - with chilling accuracy. And its dispassionate analysis has confirmed suspicions that the people most likely to be executed are those who have had the least schooling, rather than those who have committed the most heinous crimes.
The US, the only western democracy to retain the death penalty, executes only a small proportion of the people it sentences to death. For instance, just 53 of the 3228 inmates on death row were executed in 2006.
So how were those 53 chosen? "We couldn't see any clear patterns in the data," says computer scientist Stamos Karamouzis, who has been investigating this question ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Why I Oppose the Death Penalty
Why the death penalty? The death penalty is very hurtful to the minority community in Alameda County and the entire state. One reason for this is due to the tremendous cost associated with the death penalty that is draining the county budget. Every death penalty trial costs local counties $1.1 million more than a trial ending in permanent imprisonment. Every person already on death row costs state tax payers hundreds of thousands.
In total, we are paying $139 million each and every year more, for a broken death penalty system, than we would pay for those individuals condemned to permanent imprisonment instead. And now we know that rebuilding death row at San Quentin will cost nearly $400 million, plus over $1 billion to operate the facility for 20 years. While we are spending all this money on people on death row most of them end up dying of natural causes before their long delayed sentences are carried out. At this time of fiscal crisis, when every state program is being cut, just imagine what that money could buy. For example, our children in Oakland could greatly benefit from more afterschool programs, playgrounds, and other activities that can lead them to a more productive life.
People of color, specifically African-Americans and Latinos, are much more likely to be victims of murder than our white neighbors. Yet, the death penalty is reserved almost exclusively for cases where the victim is white. A statewide study by Professors Michael Radelet and Glenn Pierce on race and the death penalty found people convicted of killing a white person are three times more likely to be sentenced to death than someone convicted of killing an African-American. If the victim is Latino, the disparity grows to four times. I don't know what causes the disparity, but it may have a lot to do with the fact that homicides of people of color are less likely to be solved than homicides of white victims. In Alameda County, where I live, only 26% of homicides were solved in 2005. Given that we can keep those on death row from returning to the streets without executions, the millions spent on death row could be better spent for more detectives to solve the many cold cases. That could begin to make those in Oakland feel a bite more safe.
But perhaps more disturbing, at least to me, that same study found that counties that are predominately white are more likely to send people to death row than counties that are diverse. Death sentencing in California is based on geography, not on a structured, evenhanded formula. Only ten counties account for 85% of death sentences since 2000 and Alameda County is one of them. The vast majority of California counties rarely or never send anyone to death row.
We should also ask how many of the 670 people on death row are in fact innocent? Thank God for DNA testing and for those that have been exonerated in the past; but have mercy on those that did not escape the clutches of a broken and unfair system. DNA evidence is only available in a small number of cases. We will never know how many innocent people we have already executed in this country, let alone how many innocent people are growing old on death row all the while praying that someone will help them.
My hope is that more people will understand how unjust the death penalty is and will call for a halt to all death penalty trials. In the meantime, the money now spent on death penalty facilities, and all monies directed towards new death penalty cases should be funneled towards resources that will strengthen our communities. The best way to do that is through funding education. Fight Crime, Invest in Kids—a law enforcement organization—found that increasing California’s high school graduation rate by 10% would prevent 500 homicides per year. They found the impact would be greatest in schools that are predominantly African-American and Latino, schools were the majority of students now do not graduate. Educating our children is not only smart policy in and of itself, it is also the most effective violence prevention program we have.
Please don't surmise that I don't sympathize with all the families that are victims of murder, being one myself, I certainly care. However, I would not have wanted to relive my brother's murder over and over again, trial after trial, as happens in death penalty cases. A discovery I made in the wake of my brothers murder is that hating or failing to forgive the perpetrator allows more than one grave to be dug. The stress, pain and hurt that could riddle my body and mind just does not serve me nor honor my brother's memory. I feel that as long as the perpetrator is permanently locked away, they will serve time in hell here on earth. My heart is with each family that has ever had to face the devastating pain of losing a loved one to a senseless crime.
We are only as strong as our weakest link. Marginalizing communities based on the color of ones skin needs to become a thing of the past - ASAP. We will come closer to that goal if we replace the death penalty with permanent imprisonment and invest the money saved in educating all our children.
Delane Sims is the owner of a nail spa in Oakland but is a social justice activist at heart. She volunteers as chair of a senior group she founded in San Leandro, is a commissioner on Aging in Alameda County, a student at Berkeley City College and is now the Death Penalty Outreach Coordinator for the ACLU of Northern California.
June 20, 2008, The California Progress Report
http://www.californiaprogressr
The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.
Mexico asks World Court to halt U.S. executions
By Emma Thomasson
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Mexico asked the World Court on Thursday to take urgent steps to stop imminent U.S. executions of five Mexicans on death row who were denied their rights to consular assistance.
One of the five, Jose Medellin, is due to die on August 5 in Texas, which is poised to set execution dates for the others.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled in 2004 that the United States had violated international law by failing to inform 51 Mexicans now on death row of their right to consular assistance and said the cases should be reviewed. Read more...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A plea from Terri Been, Jeff Wood's sister
My name is Terri Been and I am a Texas republican who is AGAINST the death penalty. I am sorry to say that it was not always this way as I was raised to believe in the death penalty; BUT my views changed over 10 years ago when I was thrust unwillingly into the Texas Judicial system; at which time my eyes were opened to the complete injustice of our whole system. See, I am the sister of a man wrongfully convicted under the law of parties in Texas. This man's name is Jeffery Wood and he is set to die on August 21st, 2008 for a murder he did NOT commit.
I am writing to you because I am feeling helpless, and I do not know what I can do. These days, I find myself slave to the computer...at first I was a slave to the computer waiting for the worst...to see my brother's name upon the list of those waiting to be executed. That time has come and gone, but I find myself still a slave to the computer in hopes of finding people who can help us in our fight against the Texas Judicial System.
With the execution date set less than 3 months from now, we are running out of time. We are desperate for exposure with people who have some kind of influence on the public, or people who know other people who may be able to help. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or just anything that may help...please feel free to get in touch with me.
We now have a homepage for Jeff in addition to the online petition that is circulating, (which can be found on his homepage at the following web address: www.freewebs.com/savejeffwood under the how to help section). 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. At this point, I am getting a little worried because we only have 353 signatures on the petition, and while I am eternally grateful for every single signature…I need more. I need calls, letters and faxes to go along with the petition signatures.
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.
While I am trying to save my brother because he is innocent of murder, I am fighting to abolish the death penalty completely. In addition to the protesting and campaigning my family and I have been doing with Capital X lately (not only for my brother, but for all who face the Death Penalty), I wrote an editorial about the death penalty and had it published in the Lampasas and Killeen newspapers. This is posted as a bulletin on my page and is entitled…Are we a leader in Human Rights. (It is not about Jeff, but the death penalty in general. Please feel free to repost this document if you feel compelled to do so.) Also, please take a few minutes to look at the few videos I have on my page…they are very powerful clips and will make you think...maybe even cry.
If you do decide that you are interested in helping us save my brother’s life; please forward this to as many people as you know. I need at least 1000 signatures on the petition before we can send it in. And again, I am also desperate for letters, and faxes to be sent to the governor and the Texas Pardons and Parole Board as well.
I feel that the more who know about this and participate in it, the better it will be for all inmates who face death, not just my brother. Up until this point, we have done what we have been told to do...'sit back, and let the system work.' BUT the system has failed my brother, failed his daughter, and failed those of us who love him…Now we are just desperate!
Your help, guidance, and consideration to this matter will be greatly appreciated...more than you will ever know!
Please feel free to contact me if you need to, but if you could pass on that info I would be extremely appreciative!
I thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter! Again, your help will be greatly appreciated! God Bless You All and thank you for all that you do!!!!
In struggle,
Terri Been B.S., M. Ed
Athletic Director
mysrus (at) hotmail . com
210-887-2190 or 512-556-5674
P.S. I am very tired and worn out, so please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors as I just cannot seem to think these days!
Introducing A Boy Named Rocky: A Coloring Book for the Children of Incarcerated Parents.
This coloring book will help children discuss and understand their feelings. It can be used in educational, therapeutic, and family settings to explore loss and help maintain family cohesiveness during parent-child separation.
Children with incarcerated parents are an invisible population. There is no one agency that is responsible for them and their welfare. Nationwide, more than 2 million children have a parent who is incarcerated in state and federal prisons, and local jails (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Since 1991, the number has continued to increase by more than 50%.
Research indicates that the loss of the incarcerated parent, especially the mother, has a profound effect on minor children and adolescents. Children retain bonds and love for parents regardless of the label attached to them by society. One study estimated that children with imprisoned parents are almost six times more likely than their peers to become involved in crime and incarcerated at some point in their lives.
These children can experience a variety of emotions including anger, isolation/sadness, fear, anxiety and guilt. These emotions or their reactions to them can lead to problems or violence, erosion of self-esteem, and “risky” or dysfunctional behaviors. Many of these children see no chance of having their lives follow paths which are different from their parents.
Psychotherapist Dr. Janice M. Beal and Federal Judge Vanessa Gilmore in their respective professions had both seen the emotional devastation in the lives of children whose parents were incarcerated. They designed this coloring book to help children discuss and and understand their feelings.This book can be used in several settings to explore loss and create treatment plans for the minor child.
The book may be purchased online by clicking on the Add to Cart button or downloading an Order Form from.
Supreme Court rejects death penalty for raping children
Court rejects death penalty for raping children
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago
The Supreme Court has struck down a Louisiana law that allows the execution of people convicted of a raping a child.
In a 5-4 vote, the court says the law allowing the death penalty to be imposed in cases of child rape violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
"The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.
There has not been an execution in the United States for a crime that did not also involve the death of the victim in 44 years.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday also cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million.
The court ruled that victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. history may collect punitive damages from Exxon Mobil Corp., but not as much as a federal appeals court determined.
Justice David Souter wrote for the court that punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses, about $500 million compensation.
Exxon asked the high court to reject the punitive damages judgment, saying it already has spent $3.4 billion in response to the accident that fouled 1,200 miles of Alaska coastline.
A jury decided Exxon should pay $5 billion in punitive damages. A federal appeals court cut that verdict in half.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
KXAN: Judge rejects ex-Georgetown sergeant's plea bargain
GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- A judge on Tuesday rejected the plea bargain presented in the case of Jimmy Fennell, the former Georgetown police officer charged with sexual assault.
Fennell pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual misconduct last month.
It is rare for a judge to reject a plea bargain agreement, but some said it was no surprise because Fennell was getting just two years in prison.
"Ninety-five percent of all defendants who are resolving their cases resolve them with recommendations that are made from the DA's office occasionally the recommendation that we make the court feels needs to be decided by a jury this is one of those cases," said Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.
"Does it reduce his odds of coming out as innocent, because he's already pled guilty? No, the law does not permit anything to be used in a jury trial that was conducted during plea bargain negotiations," said defense attorney Bob Phillips.
Fennell, 34, went before Judge Burt Carnes Tuesday afternoon expecting to be sentenced to a two-year prison term along with 10 years' probation and a $5,000 fine.
He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual misconduct stemming from an incident in October. That's when Fennell was accused of driving a drunk woman to a secluded area while on duty for the Georgetown Police Department and asking her to dance and then sexually assaulting her as she leaned against his police cruiser.
Fennell will go before a jury Sept. 8.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
15th Annual Fast and Vigil Approaching
Every year, for the past fifteen years, from June 29 – July 2nd, something amazing happens in Washington, DC. Abolitionists from around the country and world come together for a four day Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty.
They set-up shop on the sidewalk of the U.S. Supreme Court and put their ideals into action. And they lose some weight.
You might wonder why hold such an event during such a hot time of the year. And if you know DC in the summer, you know that it can be brutal. Do note that the fast is optional for participants and those who fast drink plenty of liquids.
Yup, summers in DC are high tourist season and the U.S. Supreme Court is a heavily trafficked spot for tourists and DC residents. So, it’s a fantastic opportunity to engage thousands of people on the death penalty. And since many of those who participate in The Fast and Vigil year after year have such powerful stories to tell – they are death row exonorees, family members of murder victims, family members of death row inmates and other long-time abolitionists - if a passerby takes the time to stop and have a conversation with someone, that will likely be one profound conversation and experience.
But why not hold court at the court in April or May, at the beginning of DC’s tourist season and when the weather is much more moderate?
The answer is that June 29th and July 2nd are the anniversaries of two historic death penalty cases heard and decided by the very Court where this protest now takes place – the U.S. Supreme Court.
On June 29, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty is arbitrary and capricious. More than 600 condemned inmates had their death sentences reduced to life. On July 2, 1976, in Gregg v. Georgia the U.S. Supreme Court upheld new state death penalty laws allowing the resumption of executions in the United States.
For more information about the Fast and Vigil and to see a schedule for this year’s event, click here.
Charles Hood execution order withdrawn
execution order for Charles Hood. Details to follow.
Headline: Stay the execution of Charles Dean Hood
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals failed to uphold the integrity of the justice system yesterday by refusing to stay the execution of murderer Charles Dean Hood.
There is no hint that Mr. Hood is innocent of the grisly double slaying in Plano that he was convicted of 18 years ago. Rather, the issue is whether anyone should be tried in a Texas court that resembles a stacked deck.
Questions have been raised about the impartiality of the trial judge, Sue Holland, because of a hush-hush romantic involvement she purportedly was having with the district attorney at the time, Tom O'Connell. Mr. O'Connell was active in the trial, questioning witnesses and delivering part of the closing arguments.
If he did so in front of his secret lover, it would not only offend the sense of fair play, it would appear to offend the Texas Constitution. Article 5, Section 11 offers protections against court proceedings in which a lawyer has things wired with the judge. It says:
No judge shall sit in any case wherein the judge may be interested, or where either of the parties may be connected with the judge, either by affinity or consanguinity.
In petitioning the appeals court last week, Mr. Hood's attorneys offered only innuendo about, not proof of, a secret affair. Nor did they provide proof that a close relationship affected the judge's decision-making.
But considering the gravity of the charges, the appeals court was duty-bound to stay Mr. Hood's execution today in Huntsville and to sort out the facts.
The case involves the ghastly slayings of Ronald Williamson and Tracie Lynn Wallace. They must not be forgotten, and their loved ones deserve swift resolution of the killer's fate. The execution date has been postponed before. To some, another delay might have seemed like a cruel joke.
But public confidence in the justice system is essential. The appeals court needed to send a signal that Texas courts demand the highest standards when people's lives are at stake. It's beyond disappointing that wasn't the case.