The San Antonio Express News today wrote in an editorial that the fault for the Innocence Commission bill (SB 263) dying in committee belongs to the chair of the committee, Aaron Pena. Still, it is not to late for Chairman Peña to redeem himself. He could offer an amendment to SB 909 (the TDCJ Sunset bill) to add the Innocence Commission. It takes a 2/3s majority to amend a bill on 3rd reading, meaning 100 votes, but it is worth trying to get those votes in order to prevent more innocent people from languishing in prison.

Rep. Aaron Peña, chairman of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, said the bill failed due to a lack of votes. Four members, including Peña, voted for it and two voted against it. The bill needed five ayes to pass.

Three House committee members — Barbara Mallory Caraway, Terri Hodge and Paul Moreno — were absent during that vote.

All three have expressed support for the bill, and it’s likely they would have voted in favor of it had the hearing been held in a timely fashion, according to the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Senfronia Thompson.

The committee has had the bill since April 24. It should not have languished as it did, and that is Peña’s responsibility.

An innocence commission is imperative, particularly in a state like Texas, where the death penalty is supported and applied with fervor. If there are cases where prisoners have been wrongfully executed, shouldn’t there be a commission tasked with determining how?

Serious questions have arisen, for example, in the case of Ruben Cantu, a San Antonio man who was executed in 1993. The key eyewitness, Juan Moreno, has recanted his testimony. There is speculation that he was pressured into fingering Cantu after claiming Cantu was not the burglar who shot him and murdered his companion.

If Cantu was innocent, it’s too late for him. But it’s not too late to learn how that case may have taken a wrong turn.

It’s bad enough that people are serving years in prison or possibly being executed for crimes they did not commit.

That this state doesn’t care enough to determine how or why is just as appalling.

Last week, we sent out an email asking TMN members to contribute to TSADP’s pizza for the homeless project. We received about $150 in donations. Here is a report from the Texas Students Against the Death Penalty Blog:

Last Wednesday night, Tennessee executed Philip Workman despite his claims of innocence. For his last meal on earth, Philip Workman requested that his final meal be a vegetarian pizza donated to any homeless person located near Tennessee’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. The Tennessee Department of Corrections refused saying they were too focused on the execution procedures. But lots of normal people stepped in and hundreds of pizzas were delivered last week to Nashville’s homeless community in Philip Workman’s.

Not only Tennesseans responded to Philip Workman’s request. Texans also took action. Texas Students Against the Death Penalty in collaboration with House the Homeless collected donations from Austinites to purchase pizza. The Pizzas were delivered last Wednesday,May 16, at ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless). An act of generosity deserves notice and praise, regardless of who it was performed by and the mistakes they made in the past. Philip Workman used his last request to do something nice for homeless people. I thank him for that.

Another execution took place in Texas today, May 16. There are five executions scheduled in Texas in June, including a woman.

The AP reports:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Kansas prison escapee Charles Edward Smith was executed Wednesday evening for the fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to pull him over for stealing $22.50 worth of gasoline from a service station.

Asked if he had a final statement, Smith replied, “No sir.”

Smith was pronounced dead at 6:41 p.m.

He never looked at friends and relatives of the slain deputy, who watched through a window a few feet away.

Smith, 41, was the 14th condemned killer to receive lethal injection this year in Texas, the nation’s busiest capital punishment state.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review his case.

Last Wednesday night, Tennessee executed Philip Workman despite his claims of innocence. For his last meal on earth, Philip Workman requested that his final meal be a vegetarian pizza donated to any homeless person located near Tennessee’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution (News
Report). The Tennessee Department of Corrections refused, saying they
were too focused on the execution procedures. But lots of normal people stepped in and hundreds of pizzas were delivered last week to Nashville’s homeless community in Philip Workman’s name.

Not only Tennesseans have responded to Philip Workman’s request. Texans are also responding. Texas Students Against the Death Penalty is collecting donations to purchase pizzas for thehomeless. The pizzas will be delivered Wednesday, May 16, at 1 PM at ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless).

Hooman Hedayati, President of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty said, “An act of generosity deserves notice and praise regardless of who it was performed by and the mistakes they made in the past. Philip Workman used his last request to do something nice for homeless people. I thank him for that.”

If you are interested in helping buy pizzas for homeless people in Philip Workman’s name, please pitch in
a few dollars.

You can donate
money with your credit card or by sending a check made out to “Texas Students
Against the Death Penalty” to:

Texas Students Against the Death Penalty

1109 S Pleasant Valley #197

Austin, Texas 78741

On Wednesday, May 16, 2007, Texas is scheduled to execute Charles Smith for the August 1988 murder of Tim Hudson. Smith will be the 393rd person executed in Texas since 1982 when executions in Texas resumed after an 18 year moratorium.

Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Charles Smith on May 16, 2007

TDCJ Info on Smith

There will be a vigil/protest at the Texas governor’s mansion as well as sites around
Texas from 5:30-6:30 P.M. on May 16 to protest the execution of Charles Smith

Google Map of Statewide Execution Vigil/Protest Sites