Witness to Innocence
Ron Keine – ronkeine@yahoo.com
The Journey of Hope from Violence to Healing
Bill Pelke – bpelke@gci.net
When is enough going to be enough?
Following the press conference at the Capitol in Austin yesterday, six exonerated men from death rows in the USA speak out in support of Hank Skinner’s urgent plea for DNA testing.
The exonerated Shujaa Graham (CA), Curtis McCarty (OK), Ron Keine (NM), Perry Cobb (IL), Derrick Jamison (OH) and Juan Melendez (FL) demand justice for Hank Skinner, set to be executed by the State of Texas on March 24th.
We, who collectively served 67 years on death row for crimes we did not commit, demand that Texas enforces the founding principles of justice: transparency and fairness. Hank Skinner is set to lose his life for a crime he did not commit. In spite of the availability of untested evidence collected at the crime scene, 15 years after the crime, the identity of the killer remains unresolved. Curtis McCarty, exonerated after 21 years on Oklahoma death row: "In my case, the prosecutor said: we have all the forensic evidence we need to prove guilt. He did not. 21 years later, DNA testing proved my innocence. It is the duty of all concerned to pursue the quest for the truth. When evidence is available to be tested, it is criminal and unconstitutional not to test it. Dallas County is pursuing this avenue and exonerating prisoners, why isn't the State of Texas willing to do the right thing for Hank Skinner?" If the State is so certain of his guilt, why not order the DNA testing to confirm it? If Hank Skinner was guilty, why has he been relentlessly seeking DNA testing to prove his innocence? We are death row survivors and we owe our lives to those who fought for and with us to bring the truth to the light of day.
We stand by Hank Skinner in his quest to prove his innocence and we urge Governor Perry to do the right thing in granting him reprieve and ordering the DNA testing before another irreparable injustice occurs in Texas.
WRITE OR CALL GOVERNOR RICK PERRY
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 512-463-1849
Main number: 512-463-2000
Website email contact form/ http://www.governor.state.tx.
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