Execution Watch: John Balentine

John Balentine faces execution Wednesday.

By Execution Watch

John Balentine of Texas death row has beaten the grim reaper twice. He's trying for a third time.

Texas plans to execute him Wednesday. If the courts reject his last-minute appeals and Texas goes forward, Execution Watch will broadcast coverage, commentary and analysis of unresolved issues in the state killing. 

RADIO SHOW PREVIEW
EXECUTION WATCH
Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live:
Wed., Aug. 22, 2012, 6-7 PM Central Time
KPFT FM Houston 90.1, and
http://executionwatch.org > Listen
Join the discussion on Facebook: Execution Watch

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:
JOHN BALENTINE, 43, who has beaten two execution dates, winning stays each time. The former auto mechanic was condemned in the 1998 deaths of three teens in Amarillo. Prosecutors said the slayings were the result of a feud between Balentine and his ex-girlfriend's brother, one of the victims. Balentine was granted reprieves after arguing that his trial attorneys did a poor job. Background at www.executionwatch.org > Backpage on Balentine.

SHOW LINEUP
Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict and activist who founded -- and hosted for 30 years -- The Prison Show on KPFT. His HMS radio show broadcasts each Wednesday at 2 p.m.: hmsnetradio.org.

Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials from both the prosecution and defense tables. Joining him will be Houston criminal defense attorneys SUSAN ASHLEY and LARRY DOUGLAS.

Featured Interview: PROF. ROBERT CHASE, the public historian at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He is the author of, Civil Rights on the Cell Block: Race, Reform, and Violence in Texas Prisons and the Nation, 1945--1990, a history of the prison system's brutality and changing face

Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC, founder and leader, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, abolitionmovement.org.

Reporter, Vigil, Houston: DAVE ATWOOD, a founder of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, ww.tcadp.org.

NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION
On Sept. 20, Texas plans to kill ROBERT HARRIS. Unless he gets a stay, we’ll broadcast;

PRODUCER: Elizabeth, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com.
STUDIO ENGINEER: Doyle.
THEME:  By Victoria Panetti, SheMonster International, myspace.com/shemonster.

Execution Watch: Marvin Wilson, Aug. 7

 Marvin Wilson, set for execution in Texas Aug. 7

By Elizabeth Stein
Producer, Execution Watch


No one disagrees that Marvin Wilson meets widely accepted criteria for mental retardation. No one disagrees the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional the execution of people who are mentally retarded. But Texas plans to put Wilson to death Tuesday. Unless there's a stay, Execution Watch will broadcast. 

RADIO SHOW PREVIEW
EXECUTION WATCH
Unless a stay is issued, we'll broadcast live:
Tues., Aug. 7, 2012, 6-7 PM Central Time
KPFT FM Houston 90.1, and
http://executionwatch.org > Listen
Join the discussion on Facebook: Execution Watch

TEXAS PLANS TO EXECUTE:
MARVIN WILSON, 54, was sentenced to death for his conviction in the 1992 kidnapping and murder of a police informant following a confrontation. A tip from the victim had led to a police search in which drugs were seized and charges lodged against Wilson. His attorneys have argued unsuccessfully on appeal that he is ineligible for execution because he is clearly mentally retarded. Background at www.executionwatch.org > Backpage on Wilson.

SHOW LINEUP
Host: RAY HILL, an ex-convict and activist who founded -- and hosted for 30 years -- The Prison Show on KPFT. His HMS radio show broadcasts each Wednesday at 2 p.m.: hmsnetradio.org.

Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, a legal educator, retired attorney and native Texan who has seen capital trials from both the prosecution and defense tables. Joining him will be Houston criminal defense attorneys SUSAN ASHLEY and LARRY DOUGLAS.

Featured Interview: PROF. JODY MADEIRA, author of KILLING MCVEIGH: THE DEATH PENALTY AND THE MYTH OF CLOSURE. Prof. Madeira, who teaches at Indiana University’s School of Law., studied the Oklahoma City bombing  to determine how survivors came to terms with the mass murder. In this first-ever case study of closure, she demonstrates  the importance of understanding what closure is before asserting it has been -- or can ever be -- reached. Go to http://nyupress.org/authors.aspx?authorID=2714 or search for KILLING MCVEIGH.

Reporter, Death House, Huntsville: GLORIA RUBAC, founder and leader, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, abolitionmovement.org.

Reporter, Vigil, Houston: DAVE ATWOOD, a founder of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, ww.tcadp.org.

NEXT SCHEDULED EXECUTION
On Aug. 22, Texas plans to kill JOHN BALENTINE. Unless he gets a stay, we’ll broadcast;

PRODUCER: Elizabeth, eliza.tx.usa @gmail.com.
STUDIO ENGINEER: Doyle.
THEME:  By Victoria Panetti, SheMonster International, myspace.com/shemonster.