North Carolina’s governor today signed a bill establishing an Innocence Commission in his state. The new North Carolina Innocence Commission is far different than what has been proposed in Texas, where a bill filed in the last session of the Texas Legislature for a proposed innocence commission would have only established a commission to study old death penalty cases to find out what went wrong in the system. It would not have had the authority to review convicted felons’ claims of innocence, as in NC.

North Carolina’s public and policymakers seem to be somewhat ahead of their Texas counterparts. In Texas, it seems as if some people are still struggling with the recent shocking news that Texas may have executed three innocent people, Carlos De Luna, Cameron Willingham and Ruben Cantu. Some of the old time defenders of the system in Texas don’t yet seem willing to admit that the system they have been defending for decades as having never executed an innocent person has in fact already executed at least three innocent people. We expect, as the shock of the recent revelations in Texas wears off, that Texas policymakers will embrace reforms, including a moratorium on executions, as the only way to ensure that innocent people are not executed in Texas.

Urge Gov Perry to Stop the Execution of William Wyatt, Jr

TDCJ Info on William Wyatt, Jr

Texas is the number one execution state in the U.S. If William Wyatt Jr is executed, he will become the 372nd person executed in Texas since 1982.

There is no doubt that Wyatt committed the offense for which he was sentenced to death. However, the many problems with the Texas death penalty system means that all executions in Texas should be stayed.

An immediate halt to executions in Texas is warranted by The Chicago Tribune’s investigation finding that Texas may have executed an innocent man named Carlos De Luna. The Tribune began publishing the results of its investigation in the paper’s June 25th edition. The De Luna case is the third time in 19 months that a major newspaper investigation has concluded that an innocent person may have been executed by the state of Texas. The Chicago Tribune previously reported in November 2004 that Cameron Willingham was probably innocent of setting the arson fire that killed his three daughters. Willingham was executed by Texas in 2004. The Houston Chronicle has reported that Ruben Cantu, who was executed by Texas in 1993, was also probably innocent.

“Reports that three innocent people may have been executed by Texas should shake the souls of every person in this state”, said Scott Cobb, president of Texas Moratorium Network. “These continuing reports of executions of innocent people indicate that we now have an emergency situation in Texas. The death penalty system here is clearly not capable of sorting out the guilty from the innocent before strapping people down for their lethal injections. Texas district attorneys and judges should enact a moratorium on executions by agreeing to cancel all execution dates until the next session of the Texas Legislature has an opportunity to address the crisis”, said Cobb.

Please take this opportunity to petition Governor Perry to stop the execution, using the link above. A protest will take place on Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m, in various cities throughout Texas, including outside the Governor’s mansion in Austin and outside The Walls Unit in Huntsville.

Ruben Cantu, Carlos De Luna and Cameron Willingham are three persons that many people now believe were innocent people executed in Texas. But have there been other innocent people executed in Texas? The New York Times ran an article in 2000 that mentioned several cases of people executed in Texas who may have been innocent. That article did not mention De Luna or Cantu and at the time the article was published Willingham was still alive and would not be executed until 2004. The article mentions David Spence, Odell Barnes, Troy Farris, James Lee Beathard and Jerry Lee Hogue as possibly innocent people executed in Texas. About Troy Farris, the article says:

Another member of the board (Board of Pardons and Paroles), Tom Moss, a retired federal parole officer, talked about his vote for clemency for Troy Farris, who was executed for killing a police officer. The Farris case, Mr. Moss said, was one of two cases in which he “saw something that may have indicated that they were innocent.”

Cynthia Tauss, who has studied law, is also on the board. She said she “cried all day” after Texas executed Mr. Farris. “I wasn’t sure he should have been given the death penalty,” she said. “That’s why I voted to commute.” A majority of the 18-member board would have to have voted for clemency in order to make a recommendation of it to Mr. Bush.
…
In the Farris case, the one that caused Ms. Tauss of the parole commission to break down into tears, the Court of Criminal Appeals said there was no forensic evidence to link Mr. Farris to the crime or to support the testimony of the two key witnesses against him. But the appeals court upheld the jury’s decision.

Then, in an unusual move, seven members of the state parole board voted for clemency, but 10 opposed it and one abstained. Mr. Farris was executed in January 1999.

The Times also wrote about the case of Jerry Lee Hogue, who was executed for arson-murder. Remember, it was arson that was involved in the cases of Cameron Willingham and Ernest Willis. Willingham was executed for arson-murder and Willis was exonerated after 17 years on death row for arson-murder.

This emphasis on speed hurt Jerry Lee Hogue. Although there was strong evidence, including two eyewitnesses, that he had committed the arson-murder for which he was convicted, on the eve of his scheduled execution nearly 20 years later a law enforcement official had gnawing doubts. The official, Joseph Stewart, an arson investigator in Wichita Falls, arrested a man for a different arson who it turned out had been at the arson for which Mr. Hogue had been convicted. The arsons seemed disturbingly similar, Mr. Stewart said in an interview, and he called Governor Bush’s office several times, pleading for a reprieve of 30 days in order to pursue the new evidence.

“I’m not a defense lawyer, I’m a Texas peace officer,” said Mr. Stewart, a death penalty supporter who has voted for Mr. Bush and has been in law enforcement since he was 21. For this reason he thought Governor Bush would listen to him. He was wrong.

Mr. Sutton said that the governor had rejected Mr. Stewart’s entreaties because “the jury decision was right.” The execution of Mr. Hogue on March 11, 1998, left Mr. Stewart with grave doubts about how the death penalty is administered. “Being in law enforcement, I am not against the death penalty,” he said in an interview in the county building in tiny Crowell. “I had always assumed there was a good set of checks and balances. I was pretty disillusioned afterward.”

Texas needs to stop executions immediately, so that the question about whether innocent people have been executed in Texas can be fully investigated.

We saw this comment on the Dallas DA race in an email from Tom Blackwell of Dallas. Tom points out on his website that John Kerry got more votes (200,854) than George Bush (146,952) in Dallas County in 2004, so the DA race there could be competitive.

Dallas GOP DA candidate Toby Shook was the Prosecutor at the Darlie Routier murder trial. Now the A&E Cable Network is running an episode called “Mother on Death Row”, that shows evidence that should have been presented to the Jury was omitted, and that one juror now thinks she is innocent. “We hear from a juror who now thinks that Darlie is innocent, the lead prosecutor and defense attorney in the case, and Darlie and her husband”, says the promotional material.

Republicans are campaigning with the slogan “Throw the Shook at them.” If doing
that means jurors do not see important evidence, a woman is sent to death row, and the prosecutor proceeds with a personal ego trip and the Republican nomination for DA of Dallas County – – we have some urgent business to attend to in the November General Election.

Watching this documentary – – I recall something about a principle called “reasonable doubt.”

Here is the web page of the Democratic nominee, Craig Watkins, which is now “under construction”

Recall that the people of Dallas County came very close to electing Craig Watkins to this office 4 years ago…

Regards, TOM BLACKWELL, PO Box 25403, Dallas, Texas 75225
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/tom.blackwell/

Patrick Williams of the Dallas Observer published a story titled “Does Death Row Offer Door Prizes?” about the growing support for a moratorium on executions and the news of new voices calling for a moratorium!

Here is part of the story…

That last one comes from the Texas Moratorium Network, a statewide anti-death penalty group that says “an important new voice is about to be raised in support of a moratorium in Texas.” Whose voice? That’s a secret until around the end of the month, but the network is soliciting guesses on its blog about who the new supporter will be. “After the news breaks, we will post the names on our blog of the people who correctly predicted the name of the new voice. Maybe we will also post the incorrect guesses just for fun,” the group writes in its newsletter.

Fun and Texas’ Death Row. Yee-haw.

“We can’t have a little fun?” TMN President Scott Cobb asked when Buzz gave him a ring in Austin to see if we could get a hint and the big new name. “I don’t think it detracts from anything.” Hopefully, Cobb says, building a little suspense will drive a few people to the group’s Web site and stir up some of the flagging interest in stopping executions in a state that has put to death 369 people since 1982 and is on track to kill four more just this month. This is despite recent news reports that at least one and maybe three innocent persons were part of that tally, and despite a growing chorus among editorialists for a moratorium at least until the Texas death machine is given a thorough review.

The response to Mr. Williams’ question is YES! We are teaming up with TSADP and offering one free registration for the 2007 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break (housing included) to the first person who correctly guesses who the new voice will be. The winner can also bring a friend to spring break for free too.

Please send your guesses to hooman (at) texasabolition.org ASAP! The winner will be determined by the timestamp on the email.