The Pflugerville Pflag published an excellent story today on Anthony Graves receiving $3,000 in donations from Texas Moratorium Network and friends, which we delivered Saturday. They are a weekly newspaper and this edition came out today.
The number of new death sentences is continuing the decline that it has been following in the past several years. So far in 2010, eight people have been sentenced to death in Texas, which is one fewer than in 2009, but the year is not over yet, so the number could rise. 50 percent of the people sentenced to death in Texas in 2010 are African-Americans and a total of 62.5 percent are people of color, 37.5 percent are white.
One reason for fewer death sentences in recent years is that juries are more reluctant to sentence people to death because they have heard of so many cases of innocent people being exonerated (most recently Anthony Graves) and other problems in the system, so they prefer the alternative of life without parole. State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, the author of Texas’ life-without-parole law, has said prosecutors are trying to blame LWOP for their troubles getting Texans to trust a scandal-ridden system, but Lucio has said “it isn’t life without parole that has weakened the death penalty. It is a growing lack of belief that our system is fair.”
Texas Still Leads in Number of Executions in 2010
Texas still leads the nation in number of executions, with about 38 percent of all executions carried out in the U.S. in 2010. There are still two executions scheduled for 2010 in other states, but Texas has no more executions scheduled in 2010.
In 2010, five people in Texas received stays of execution. Among the five was Hank Skinner, who received two stays of execution.
17 people people were executed in Texas in 2010. 24 people were executed in Texas in 2009.
Inmates added to Texas death row, by year:
- 1974—8
- 1975—17
- 1976—23
- 1977—23
- 1978—39
- 1979—21
- 1980—23
- 1981—22
- 1982—28
- 1983—21
- 1984—21
- 1985—33
- 1986—40
- 1987—35
- 1988—32
- 1989—31
- 1990—28
- 1991—29
- 1992—31
- 1993—34
- 1994—42
- 1995—43
- 1996—37
- 1997—35
- 1998—43
- 1999—47
- 2000—28
- 2001—30
- 2002—35
- 2003—28
- 2004—25
- 2005—15
- 2006—11
- 2007—15
- 2008—9
- 2009—9
- 2010 –8 (As of November 13, 2010)
Click here to watch video of Anthony Graves accepting $3,000 in donations from TMN’s president Scott Cobb and then speaking with reporters and supporters on the TMN Facebook Page.
Texas Moratorium Network and friends delivered $3,000 in donations to Anthony Graves that were collected from TMN’s supporters and friends from across Texas, other U.S. states and other countries. Scott Cobb, president of TMN, and friends from Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Witness to Innocence delivered the donations to Anthony on Saturday, November 20.
Anthony Graves was grateful for his freedom and a $3,000 donation from anti-death penalty group the Texas Moratorium Network. The donation is to help him start a new life. The donations were collected from generous people throughout Texas, other U.S. states and other countries who had heard of Anthony’s story and wanted to help him after he was exonerated off Texas death row after 18 years of incarceration for a crime he did not commit.
“This is about humanity coming forward so I am very grateful for that,” Graves said. “It’s a bigger picture than the check that has been written, so I am very grateful for the show of humanity.”
The donation is a token, compared what Graves could receive from the State.
He was wrongfully convicted of the 1992 murders of a family of six in the Central Texas town of Sommerville.Graves’ conviction was based solely on testimony from the real killer, Robert Earl Carter, who recanted before he was executed in 2000. Journalism students from The University of St. Thomas in Houston later conducted research that would lead to Graves’ freedom. The State could now give Graves 1.5M dollars for his ordeal.
“I was basically kidnapped by the criminal justice system and put on Texas Death Row,” Graves says.
Dressed in a white sweater vest and black slacks, Anthony Graves , 45, received a $3,000 check from the president of the Texas Moratorium Network at a family member’s home in Pflugerville this afternoon to help him get assimilated back into society.Graves spent the last 18 years, almost half of his life, sitting on death row for six murders he did not commit.“Whatever you think hell is to you, that’s what it is,” said Graves of his time on death row. “That was my experience. It’s just hell.”In 1992, a grandmother, her daughter and four grandchildren were killed. Their Somerville, Texas, home was set on fire to cover up the crime.Robert Earl Carter, the father of one of the children killed, was convicted of capital murder and given the death penalty.Carter told authorities he did not act alone and implicated Graves as his accomplice. He later testified against Graves at trial.Graves went to prison – he was 26 years old. All the while, he maintained his innocence.Prior to his execution in 2000, Carter recanted and said Graves had nothing to do with the murders.An appeals court overturned Graves’ conviction in 2006, when they found prosecutors obtained false information from witnesses at trial.“I experienced the dark side of our criminal justice system,” Graves explained.Citing a lack of evidence, it took until last month for prosecutors to decide not to retry Graves.
He was freed from prison.Now, Graves told KXAN he is not bitter and wants to use his experience to fix what he calls a ‘broken’ criminal justice system.“I just want to go out and make a difference. I want to be a part of a solution,” Graves explained.Anthony is looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with his family – then tackling a world that he says has changed so much since he has been gone.“I am having a hard time with technology just a cell phone. A cell phone just does so much now,” Graves said.Graves also hope to return to school and obtain a degree in communications.He will put the $3,000 he received today towards clothing, medical care and other basic necessities. Graves, however, is now be eligible to get more than a million dollars from the state because of his wrongful imprisonment.
KVUE’s Jennie Huerta reported on our delivery of $3,000 in donations we collected from Texas Moratorium Network’s supporters and friends from across Texas, other U.S. states and other countries. Scott Cobb, president of TMN, and friends from Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Witness to Innocence delivered the donations to Anthony on Saturday, November 20. Watch the video on YouTube.
Anthony Graves is grateful for his freedom and a donation from anti-death penalty group the Texas Moratorium Network. The donation is to help him start a new life.“This is about humanity coming forward so I am very grateful for that,” Graves said. “It’s a bigger picture than the check that has been written, so I am very grateful for the show of humanity.”The donation is a token, compared what Graves could receive from the State.He was wrongfully convicted of the 1992 murders of a family of six in the Central Texas town of Sommerville.Graves’ conviction was based solely on testimony from the real killer, Robert Earl Carter, who recanted before he was executed in 2000. Journalism students from The University of St. Thomas in Houston later conducted research that would lead to Graves’ freedom. The State could now give Graves 1.5M dollars for his ordeal.“I was basically kidnapped by the criminal justice system and put on Texas Death Row,” Graves says.Texas executes more inmates than any other state in the nation. It is also the most generous state when it comes to compensating the wrongly convicted. Last year the Texas Legislature increased the amount to 80,000 dollars for each year of wrongful imprisonment. And just this month, the IRS ruled that it will no longer collect income tax on such compensation.“I had an intense 18 years of living because of an injustice, so this one-point-four million is a small number, compared to what I’ve had to give up.”Graves says he won’t give up on getting justice for himself. He is going back to court next week. This time, it is to ask the judge to begin the legal process of getting what the State says he’s due.
As part of his compensation, the State could also give Graves a free, four-year college education. He says he wants to study communication, and become an advocate for others like himself.
- Texas Moratorium Network (TMN) is a non-profit organization with the primary goal of mobilizing statewide support for a moratorium on executions in Texas. Significant death penalty reform in Texas, including a moratorium on executions, is a viable goal if the public is educated on the death penalty system and is encouraged to contact their elected representatives to urge passage of moratorium legislation.
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