By Elizabeth Stein
Producer, Execution Watch
Texas plans to execute George Jones by lethal injection Wednesday. Execution Watch will broadcast details, plus an interview with Scott Christianson, author of The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber.
RADIO SHOW PREVIEW: EXECUTION WATCH
June 2, 2010, Wed., 6-7 pm Central Time
Listen on KPFT's HD2 channel, 90.1 FM Houston, or
Go to www.executionwatch. org at 6 p.m. CT, click on “Listen.”
SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED
GEORGE JONES, 36, convicted in the 1993 robbery-murder of Forest Hall in Dallas. Jones’ attorneys say his verdict and sentence were reached unfairly, because the trial judge wrongly allowed prosecutors to exclude a prospective juror seen as friendly to the defense. In a capital trial, a single holdout juror can mean the difference between life and death. (More at www.executionwatch. org > Backpage on George Jones.)
SHOW LINEUP
Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict who has lost many friends to the death chamber. His civil rights activism has included shepherding several cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ray hosts the Prison Show, now in its 31st year, Friday nights on KPFT, www.theprisonshow. org .
Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a retired attorney, contributes to the profession by teaching a weekly continuing education class in appellate law. He has worked as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney in capital cases.
Featured Interview: SCOTT CHRISTIANSON, writer, investigative reporter, historian and author of The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber, published by University of California Press. It includes little-known facts about the gas chamber, such as its links to the eugenics movements and the American-German collaboration to produce lethal hydrogen cyanide. Among his other books is With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Distinguished Honors and a Choice Outstanding Book Award. (scottchristianson.org)
Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC, a leader of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, which may be followed on Facebook.
Reporter, Vigil, Houston: TBA.
NEXT SCHEDULED EXECTION
On June 15, Texas plans to execute a man who has been on death row nearly 32 years, DAVID POWELL. Execution Watch will broadcast: www.executionwatch.org
PRODUCER: Elizabeth Ann Stein, steinea @yahoo.com.
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Otis Maclay, omaclay @gmail.com.
THEME MUSIC: “Death by Texas,” Victoria Panetti, www.myspace. com/shemonster