Write Gov Perry to Protest the Execution of Cathy Henderson on June 13, 2007

From Save Cathy Henderson Website

April 2nd

News directly from George Cumming, one of Cathy’s lawyers:

Judge Wisser [has advised] us that he will vacate the April 18 execution date, and reschedule the date to June 13, 2007. Maybe we are turning the corner in this case, at long last. We still have a long way to go, but at least now have some time to get there.

And here’s the email from Judge Wisser:

Dear Counsel:

I have reread the motions and memos submitted to the court. I seriously considered both parties positions over the weekend. I decided, although not convinced of the legal correctness of the defendant’s position; it is in the interest of justice and the criminal justice system of this state, that the execution date of April 18th be reset for June 13th, 2007. This should permit the defense adequate time to perfect any subsequent writ.

Therefore I will instruct my clerk to recall the current death warrant and to issue a new one with the June 13th date.

Sincerely,

Jon Wisser

Judge Presiding

Back in 2004, when we first came up with the idea for creating a training ground for students interested in human rights and working to stop executions, we did not think that the program would become as successful as it has. Last year, it was covered on the front page of The Huntsville Item and on mtvU and this year MTV covered it on Total Request Live and The Amazing Break.

Most importantly, after four years there is now a growing group of alumni of the program who continue to be impacted by their experiences at the alternative spring break and who are beginning to impact the world themselves.

Thank you to all the young people who have given up their spring breaks to help us stop executions in Texas.

The Austin American Statesman reports Friday, March 30, 2007

Cathy Lynn Henderson’s lawyers were in court today asking a judge in Travis County to delay her April execution to give them more time to file a final appeal.

Henderson, 50, is scheduled to be executed April 18 for killing 3-month-old Brandon Baugh in 1994 at her Pflugerville-area home.

Doctors testified at her 1995 trial that Brandon’s massive skull injuries could not have been caused by an accidental fall, as Henderson claimed.

Henderson’s lawyer, George A. Cumming of San Francisco, told visiting state District Judge Jon Wisser today that recently developed science on head trauma — melding the work of doctors with that of physicists and engineers — will show Brandon’s death could have been an accident.

“This is new science,” Cumming argued. “It is very much like the DNA equivalent in a head trauma case.”

Cumming asked Wisser, who was the trial judge in the case, to vacate his execution order or to delay it by 90 days to allow him to fully develop an application for writ of habeas corpus requesting a new trial.

Wisser said he would rule Monday morning.

Join our SMS text message action alert system to help stop executions in Texas. This is a cutting edge system. We were early adapters. We actually started using it in 2003, way before texting really caught on.

If you join, you will receive a text message on your cell phone the day before or the day of each execution in Texas. The message gives you a phone number and reminds you to call the governor of Texas to protest the execution. In the last few years, there have been 17 to 40 executions in Texas every year, so that is how many messages you will receive each year.

The Austin Chronicle has a story on the art controversy at the capitol.

State Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston took down two paintings depicting executions because he found them offensive. Scott Cobb, president of Texas Moratorium Network condemned Miles’ action, “here we are in the seventh year of the 21st century and people are still confiscating artwork like it’s 1955.”

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