Download a flyer for the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston on Oct 25

KPFT, Houston’s Pacifica Radio, has endorsed the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions and willl broadcast it live on 90.1FM at 2:00 pm on Oct 25.

Austin’s chapter of the Campaign to END the Death Penalty is holding a protest Monday, September 29th in support of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis. Davis, who has a strong innocence claim, was granted a temporary stay by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, less than 2 hours before his scheduled execution. The stay lasts only until September 29th, when the Supreme Court is set to consider an appeal from Davis for new evidence of innocence. If the appeal is rejected, the execution could proceed as early as that day.

Irrespective of the Supreme Court decision, Austinites will gather at 5:30 pm on Monday, September 29th at the south-side Capitol steps in support of Troy Davis.

Davis was sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail. There was no physical evidence and the weapon used in the crime was never found. Davis maintains his innocence and since his conviction, 7 out of 9 trial witnesses have recanted their testimony and cited police coercion in sworn affidavits. One of the two remaining witnesses, Sylvester ‘Red’ Coles, is the chief alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence implicating him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Coles.

Monday’s Austin protest is part of a National Call to Action for Troy Davis.

The Campaign to END the Death Penalty is a grassroots organization dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment in the United States.

Kids Against the Death Penalty was started by young relatives of Jeffrey Wood. They were a major part of the coalition to Save Jeff Wood, attending protests in San Antonio and Austin. They also walked part of the last leg of Capital X’s cross country walk from New Jersey to Austin. They were there when Capital X reached the Texas governor’s mansion.

Now, they have created a website for KADP.

It looks like they have been very busy, holding meetings and protesting every execution in Texas.

They have also accepted an invitation from the Houston organizers of the 9th Annual March to Stop Executions to lead the march on Oct 25 with their banner at the front.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s investigation into Judge Sharon Keller is almost complete. They should be reporting on the results of the investigation soon. They launched the investigation in response to several complaints, including one that we submitted to them that was signed by more than 1,900 people who were upset by Keller’s unethical behavior in closing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals at 5pm on the night of the execution of Michael Richard. She said, “We close at 5” when told by her staff that the lawyers for Mr Richard were having computer problems and needed an extra 15 minutes to submit an appeal. Richard was executed later that night without having his final appeal considered by Texas’ highest court of criminal appeals.

It has been so long since we filed the complaint that we had just about given up hope that they were going to tell us anything that was going on with the investigation, so we are happy to hear that they have been investigating and will eventually report.

Read more about what happened at www.sharonkiller.com.

The Death Penalty Information Center has added Michael Blair as the 130th person on their list of people exonerated to leave death row. He remains in prison on other charges, but he has been found innocent of the murder charge that sent him to death row.

The AP reported yesterday:

DALLAS — A North Texas court dismissed the case against the man known as “Ashley’s Killer” two months after his convictions were tossed out because DNA evidence cleared him of the 1993 child slaying.

Michael Blair was convicted and sentenced to death for the molesting and strangling of 7-year-old Ashley Estell in suburban Dallas. Her body was found in a remote area of Collin County on Sept. 5, 1993, a day after she disappeared from a Plano park where her brother was playing soccer.

But recent DNA testing excluded him and in June his conviction was set aside by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The DNA evidence shows that another man, now deceased, is a plausible suspect in the girl’s death, according to the Collin County District Attorney’s office.

“It has been determined that this case should be dismissed in the interest of justice so that the offense charged in the indictment can be further investigated,” according to a dismissal motion filed last month by prosecutors. A judge granted the dismissal motion Aug. 26.

The Dallas Morning News reported the dismissal in its Wednesday editions.

The Collin County DA’s office and Plano police said they are reinvestigating the case.

Despite the ruling, Blair will remain in prison. While behind bars, he confessed and eventually pleaded guilty to sexual assaults of other children in the early 1990s. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences and a fourth to be served concurrently.

The girl’s death prompted state lawmakers to pass tough sexual-predator measures called “Ashley’s Laws” requiring longer prison terms and public registration for sex offenders.