Write Clemency Letters for Kenneth Mosley – Execution Date July 16

It is said that the ultimate heroic act is one of saving the life of another human being. There have been many celebrated stories of someone rushing into a burning building or diving into the water to save the life of another. Each of us has an opportunity to do our part to save the life of Kenneth Mosley. Unless we are successful, the State of Texas will kill Kenneth on July 16 in their death house in Huntsville. His attorney is filing a petition for clemency and has asked us to launch a letter-writing campaign on behalf of Kenneth. He provided us with information about Kenneth himself, his life and facts about his case.

Kenneth Mosley

Kenneth Mosley has an execution date of July 16, 2009. Please use the information below to write 2 letters, one to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) and another toGovernor Rick Perry.

Make your best argument why the BPP should recommend clemency and why Governor Rick Perry should grant clemency. Please read the following information about Kenneth Mosley and send your letters to the (BPP) and Governor Rick Perry, respectively.

In this era of e-mail correspondence we no longer take time to write a traditional letter, either fax it or place it in an envelope, stamp and mail it. This letter writing campaign deserves that time and attention on the part of each of us. In addition to your letters, please call the Texas BPP and voice your appeal. Addresses, phone/fax numbers and a sample letter are provided below the following information about Kenneth and his case.

– Britta Slopianka, Columnist,
Abolition of the Death Penalty
and Les Blough, Editor
Axis of Logic

Clemency Campaign for Kenneth Mosley

Kenneth’s life was a life broken by an abusive childhood, racial trauma in school, untreated mental illness brought on by exposure to chemical pesticides; by a church that abandoned him because of his drug use, and by his inability to beat drug addiction. He was failed by his trial attorneys who failed to tell his story.

• Mitigating evidence was everything in this case, and much was available, but none was presented at his trial. The prosecutor portrayed Kenneth as a one-dimensional criminal. His trial attorneys did nothing to dispel this illusion; or convey to the jury the complex circumstances that had led to the case; or to show that there was indeed reasonable doubt of intent to cause the death of Officer Michael Moore.

• Kenneth suffers from frontal lobe impairment and diffuse brain injury as a result of extensive childhood exposure to neuro-toxic pesticides. Expert testimony confirms this frontal lobe impairment could have easily resulted in his erratic and aggressive behavior. This medical testimony was never presented to the jury nor was the fact that Kenneth suffered major depression and that his resort to cocaine often followed the expiration of his antidepressant medication. His trial lawyers did not even examine his medical records! They never informed the jury of the true root of his drug abuse allowing it to be attributed erroneously to moral failure. The failure of his lawyers allowed the jury to view Kenneth only as morally blameworthy rather than medically impaired.

• As a child Kenneth was afforded none of the protection due a child.
  He was brought up in a violent and chaotic household as evidenced in medical records at the time. He was his mother’s seventh son. His father, who was not the father of his older brothers, was strict, aggressive, and abusive. The family was poor and lived in farm hand quarters adjacent to soybean and cotton fields in Arkansas. Kenneth was working in the fields at age five. Crop dusters routinely dusted and sprayed the fields along with the living quarters with chemicals, pesticides, weed killers, and defoliants. On occasion, Kenneth and his brothers were intentionally chased and sprayed by the crop dusters. As a result, all of the brothers experienced headaches and other ailments and as experts have testified Ken was left brain damaged. When the family moved to a different part of the state, one of Kenneth’s brothers refused to move because of the violence and abuse in the home. Kenneth later regretted that he had remained. It was as a young boy that Kenneth had first been introduced to drugs by an older brother.

• Kenneth attended a segregated grade school, but just before he began high school, schools were integrated, and he suffered directly during the civil rights era. However, he graduated from high school and attended one year of college at the University of Arkansas. Then he quit school and went to work as earning became an imperative.

• Despite his deprived background Kenneth held down a good job for nearly 16 years with Coca-Cola Bottling Company. He advanced within the company and was regarded as a diligent and hard worker. During that time he met and married Carol to whom he is still married, and they have a daughter, Amber to whom Kenneth remains devoted. Kenneth lost his job because of his addiction and with his job went his medical insurance. Kenneth and his wife sought long and hard to get treatment for him but without insurance or money this was fruitless. Poverty, addiction and illness combined led Kenneth to a desperate situation, and despair led to crime.

Facts of the case:

1. On February 15, 1997, Kenneth Mosley went into Bank One in Garland, Texas to commit a robbery. He drew attention to himself by wearing clothes that witnesses testified were inappropriate for the weather. Additionally, because he had robbed this same bank previously, one of the tellers recognized him.
2. Bank employees notified the police, and Officer Michael Moore arrived on the scene. Officer Moore touched Mr. Mosley’s arm, words were exchanged, and a struggle ensued. Officer Moore and Mr. Mosley crashed through a plate glass window. Shots were fired during this struggle. When the turmoil subsided, witnesses saw that Officer Moore had been shot several times. Mr. Mosley attempted to leave but was apprehended and shot by another Garland Police Officer, Officer Murfee. Mr. Mosley testified in his own defense and denied that he intended to kill Officer Moore.
3. Intent, obviously, played a crucial role in the trial. Were all shots fired inadvertently during the struggle or did Mr. Mosley deliberately stand up and fire a final shot? Numerous witnesses presented varying testimony about the events that occurred – including whether Mr. Mosley appeared to intentionally shoot the officer, or not. The witnesses were in different places – some inside the bank, some outside the bank – and they varied both in what they saw and how many gunshots they heard.
4. The trace evidence analysts were unable to conclusively determine the distance of all the shots. In fact, many witnesses testified to seeing quite a struggle between Mr. Mosley and Officer Moore.

Kenneth Mosley continues to deny that he intended to cause the death of Officer Moore.

Please give a few minutes of your time to help save Kenneth Mosley’s life. His is scheduled to be executed in 6 weeks. It’s important that we begin our campaign today. Please send two (2) letters, one to the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) and the other to Governor Rick Perry.

• Your letter to the BPP should plead that they recommend that the governor grant clemency.

• Your letter to the governor should plead that he grantclemency.

The following addresses and sample letters are provided below.

First Letter

Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
General Counsel’s Office
8610 Shoal Creek Blvd
Austin, TX 78757
Phone: (512) 406-5852
Fax: (512)- 467-0945

SAMPLE LETTER

Feel free to send a copy of this letter or personalise it with your appeal in any way you can and mail or fax it to:

[Today’s Date]
Rissie L. Owens, Chair, and Other Board Members
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
P. O. Box 13401
Austin, Texas 78711-3401

Re: Kenneth Mosley TDCJ Number 999243

Dear Member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles:

I am writing on behalf of Kenneth Mosley who is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on July 16, 2009. I have read about Kenneth’s crime in which police officer, Michael Moore was killed. I have also read about Kenneth’s life. I’ve read about his tragic childhood, abusive father, his frontal lobe impairment, his mental illness, his chemical dependency/addiction and resulting psychological problems.

Also, I am impressed by how Kenneth overcame these huge disadvantages by successfully completing high school and one year of college, his marriage and family and his 16 years of successful employment for Coca Cola Bottling Company. I write this with full understanding that this was not the first crime that Kenneth committed and that this was his second robbery of this bank. I’ve read how tragically, Officer Moore was killed in the struggle with Kenneth. But no act of revenge can bring Officer Moore back to his loved ones nor lessen the pain left by his death. Having considered all these factors, I am appealing to you as a human being and as a member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles to show mercy for Kenneth Mosley and recommend clemency to Governor Rick Perry. Please do everything you can to stop the execution of Kenneth Mosley on July 16, 2009.

Respectfully,

Your Name
Your City, State, Country

Second Letter

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Phone: (512) 463-2000
Fax: (512) 463-1849

SAMPLE LETTER

Feel free to send a copy of this letter or personalise it with your appeal in any way you can and mail or fax it to:

[Today’s Date]
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Re: Kenneth Mosley TDCJ Number 999243

Dear Governor Perry:

I am writing on behalf of Kenneth Mosley who is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on July 16, 2009. I have read about Kenneth’s crime in which police officer, Michael Moore was killed. I have also read about Kenneth’s life. I’ve read about his tragic childhood, abusive father, his frontal lobe impairment, his mental illness, his chemical dependency/addiction and resulting psychological problems.

Also, I am impressed by how Kenneth overcame these huge disadvantages by successfully completing high school and one year of college, his marriage and family and his 16 years of successful employment for Coca Cola Bottling Company. I write this with full understanding that this was not the first crime that Kenneth committed and that this was his second robbery of this bank. I’ve read how tragically, Officer Moore was killed in the struggle with Kenneth. But no act of revenge can bring Officer Moore back to his loved ones nor lessen the pain left by his death. Having considered all these factors, I am appealing to you as a human being and as the Governor of the State of Texas be merciful and grant clemency for Kenneth Mosley. Please grant clemency to Mr. Mosley and stop his execution, now scheduled for July 16, 2009.

Respectfully,

Your Name
Your City, State, Country

Thank you for doing your part to help save the life of Kenneth Moseley.

– Britta Slopianka and Les Blough