Witness to Innocence in Austin, TX

Taken from the ACLU Blog - Text by Jack Payden-Travers, Capital Punishment Project

Reflections on a Gathering of 20 Death Row Exonerees

It was 4:00 a.m. last Friday when I set out for Conroe, Texas, home of both the Texas state flag and death row exoneree Clarence Brandley. Three hours later, I met Clarence outside the home of his 93-year-old mother as the sun was rising and an unfettered horse grazed on a neighbor’s lawn. Due to the current economy, Mr. Brandley’s job had been cut and his Houston home was foreclosed upon before his job was restored. He now commutes 1 ½ hours each way to work and lives in the home where he was born and the town where he worked as a school custodian before being wrongfully accused of the rape and murder a high school co-ed in 1981. Nine years later, he was exonerated. He has not received any compensation for his wrongful imprisonment, but is still paying child support for the nine years he was incarcerated.

A short break

Clarence would normally have rented a car in Conroe to attend the Witness to Innocence (WTI) training in Austin. WTI is an organization of those exonerated from death row. Each year, a “Tools Gathering” is held where these men come together as a community, share experiences, teach each other how to survive, welcome the newly exonerated and learn tools to help spread their unique message.

But on Thursday the local car rental agency refused to accept a debit card from Clarence. He was scheduled to represent Texas exonerees at the WTI press conference at the state capital on Friday afternoon. Fortunately, as Public Education Associate of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, I was attending the training as support staff for WTI and could make the drive to get him to the training in time.

We went to stop at a restaurant on the way back to Austin but were deterred from patronizing the establishment by the Confederate flags decorating the entrance. We settled for cranberry juice from a gas station.

Shujaa Graham

It was an inspiring moment when the press conference began. Behind the podium stood 17 men and seated at the speakers’ table were Ray Krone, WTI’s Director of Communications and Training, who was exonerated by DNA in 2002 from a 1992 sentence of death; Clarence Brandley; and Juan Melendez, who served over 17 years on Florida’s death row. All together, 20 exonerees were gathered beneath the seal of the State of Texas. Additional speakers included Sam Millsap, former prosecutor of Bexar County, Texas; Texas Representative Elliott Naishtat, who is introducing legislation to give the governor the authority to enact a moratorium on executions; and the founding Executive Director of WTI, Kurt Rosenberg. Mr. Millsap prosecuted Ruben Cantu, who was executed in 1993. Mr. Millsap now accepts responsibility for what he believes to be the execution of an innocent man, and thinks the death penalty is broken and must be ended.

When our three days together were ending, the exonerated, their loved ones, and staff gathered in a closing circle. We were asked to share two words that represented the time in Austin. I could only say “Holy Ground,” and take off my shoes in recognition of how special the place I shared with them was for me. Being in that room with these men and their loved ones was a humbling experience. Their willingness to work to end the death penalty in spite of the nightmarish memories of death row are gifts that these exonerees give to the abolition movement. They share their experiences in the hope that others will not have to face what they did. It was a blessing to be allowed to spend time with each of them.

Kurt Rosenberg, Director Witness to Innocence and Terry Rumsie, finance director Witness to Innocence

The Journey of Hope in Montana - some photos

Ron Keine speaking


Tree planting ceremony


Rachel, Leslie Lytle, Bill and Delia


Terri Steinberg and Jo from England


Abe, Heather, Stephanie, Ron, Shujaa and Greg


Journey of Hope at Capitol

A note about comments

As some of you might have noticed already we do publish all comments no matter if they are pro or against the death penalty.

However today I rejected a comment by "Anonymous" which was very distasteful, humiliating and full of bad language.

The same person left an other comment right after the fist one (before I was able to accept or reject anything) directly addressed to Connie and me. I won't publish it as a comment but I'll quote this comment here (since it's addressed to me I can do this although it's bad language) to give you an example of the comments we unfortunately sometimes get:

"ya bet you wont publish my comment you fucking bitch. how many other pro death penalty comments are you NOT publishing you fucking cunt. I honesty hope and pray someone murders you too like poor Donna Vick, and we will see how your family feels about it. You are just a waste of oxygen anyway." The author called himself "Justice is served".

I am sure that all of our readers who did have some education by their mothers and fathers agree with me that comments in a language like this don't need to get published.

And - as a note to everybody with very poor manners like the author of this comment obviousely is: If you feel like writing anything like this to us, feel free to do so. Since your level of social training seems to be this low I can't take things like this seriously and so it actually doesn't bother me at all. All it does is taking time away from you!

Naturally we'll keep publishing every comment which is written in a normal language.

Susanne

PS: Since these comments which are written in such a poor language are always coming from people who are pro-death-penalty (and it's actually quite a few of these writings we receive), I sometimes wonder if people who are against the death penalty are acting with equally bad manners on pro sites.

On the Eve of Our Elections: Blessings to All

Darfurian Muslims leaders and Southern Sudanese join hands in solidarity in September 2007 after much forgiveness for much killing

Americans remain divided about how much religion they want in their political life. As we elect a new president, we return to an evocative, relevant conversation from earlier this year with journalist Steven Waldman. From his unusual study of the American founders, he understands why 21st-century struggles over religion in the public square spur passionate disagreement and entanglement with politics.

I found this interview to be perfect for the eve of our US final election day since there is no endorsing of any candidate--just an effort on the part of both interviewer and interviewee to seek understanding between the various points of view from early in our history until now. Extremely interesting and so helpful for the healing that sees we are all in this time in our history together no matter what the results of the coming election day.

Here

Notice also the various items on love and forgiveness linked to Krista Tippet's site.

This one stands out and so I offer this as a prayer and a blessing for the values, hopes, courage and joy we all will be seeking together in the days ahead -

Here is a story of victims of killing and genocide reaching out in deep forgiveness and care for their killers. These killers in turn ask forgiveness of those they've once murdered. Amazing, the power of forgiveness and love!

Here

Twelve Years on Death Row

Posted: November 3, 2008 4:00 pm at the Innocence Blog

Today marks the 13th anniversary of Rolando Cruz's exoneration in Illinois. In 1985, he another man, Alejandro Hernandez, were wrongfully convicted of the brutal rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl. The men spent 12 years on death row before DNA testing proved their innocence and led to their release. On February 23, 1983, Jeanine Nicarico disappeared from her Chicago home. The police discovered her body several days after she had gone missing. After months of investigation, Alejandro Hernandez became a suspect, and he directed police to Rolando Cruz in exchange for a reward. The two men incriminated each other in exchange for cash rewards.

Since the police had no physical evidence linking the men to the crime, the case against them was based on the men's alleged statements. Witnesses testified that Cruz and Hernandez seemed to have intimate knowledge of the crime. The most incriminating evidence came from the sheriff's detectives who testified that Cruz had confessed to having "visions" of the murder that closely resembled the details of the crime. Despite no record confirming these visions, it was used as evidence and a jury convicted them.

Cruz’s conviction was overturned on appeal, but he was retried and convicted again. Then, with the help of professors and students at Northwestern University, Cruz was finally able to overturn his conviction and secure DNA testing on sperm cells found near the crime scene. The results proved the men could not have committed the crime, but prosecutors retried Cruz again. On November 3, 1995, Cruz was finally acquitted after his the third trial. Charges against Hernandez were dropped a month later.

If DNA evidence from the crime scene had not been preserved in this case, Cruz and Hernandez may have been executed for a crime neither of them committed.

This is meant by "Death Penalty" as well!

Quoting from The Guardian about an event which happend last Monday:

An Islamist rebel administration in Somalia had a 13-year-old girl stoned to death for adultery after the child's father reported that three men had raped her.

Amnesty International said the al-Shabab militia, which controls the southern port city of Kismayo, arranged for a group of 50 men to stone Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow in front of a crowd of about 1,000 spectators. A lorryload of stones was brought to the stadium for the killing.

Amnesty said that Duhulow struggled with her captors and had to be forcibly carried into the stadium.

"At one point during the stoning, Amnesty International has been told by numerous eyewitnesses that nurses were instructed to check whether Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was still alive when buried in the ground. They removed her from the ground, declared that she was, and she was replaced in the hole where she had been buried for the stoning to continue," the human rights group said.

"Inside the stadium, militia members opened fire when some of the witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, and shot dead a boy who was a bystander."[...]

Duhulow's father told Amnesty that when they tried to report her rape to the militia, the child was accused of adultery and detained. [...]

If you have a closer look at this simple word stoning, it includes a person being buried into the ground so only the head and part of the shoulders can be seen and the person can't move any more and the stones have to be in a size so death does not come too fast....

In the US - usually only someone who actually killed another person (or was convicted under the law of parties in a crime where someone was killed) can get the death penalty. Yet other countries have other laws. So in some countries one can get the death penalty for drug-trafficking, espionage, treason, homosexuality, rape, incest, desertion, cowardice,....and adultery.

People get executed by firing squad, electrocution, lethal injection, hanging, ... and decapitation (for example in Saudi-Arabia by sword).

So there are no limits to the death penalty if you just have a look at the whole world.

Naturally, we could say that we only accept the death penalty for certain - especially brutal - crimes. Surely none of us reading this would want a young girl ,who had been raped, stoned for the crime of adultery--as still happens in some countries. Still, who among us has the authority to tell other nations when to use certain punishment for and when not? Who among us has the right to draw a line, to set a limit? And where is this limit to be set?

Whether in Europe, the US, or wherever - there are people with different opinions about where this line is supposed to be....some people accept the DP only for really brutal murder, some accept it for felony charges, some for child rape.... so we don't even have to look at any culture other than our own to find different limits which people have for the use of the DP.

If we allow any exception at all to permit the death penalty--no matter how distasteful or horrific it is--then are we in any position (as a nation) to tell others that they can't allow the same? Every time we allow exceptions to the rule of law--whether our nation's own particular safeguards and exceptions or our nation's own safeguards and exceptions to those international accords to which our country subscribes - we take a wider risk--we become inconsistent to the point of injustice, unfairness and risk losing judicial respect in and out of our own nation.

We may also thereby risk the same punishment or retribution happening to our own country's citizens, society, military members, family, friends, neighbors and even ourselves at some point in the future. While we may wish to accept the death penalty for some of the cases of exception, there are others which we may well never accept (for whatever personal or social reason of conscience.)

So where is the consistency in our rulings and matters of personal conscience?

In conclusion, every time we allow exceptions to our own rule of law - and to the international accords to which our nation has subscribed - we lose any authority to say to another nation: "No, you're doing something wrong there." (For example the stoning of the 13-year old girl who was raped.)

Thus, by our inconsistency with the rule of law - we enforce our own silence about other nations' exceptions and inhumanity. If we allow the DP at all, we take the risk of also allowing it for situations which are general considered cruel and unusual punishment to people in America, Europe and possibly the whole world over who care about human rights.

I'm asking all of you who say that you are pro-death penalty: Are you REALLY for the death penalty? In all cases? For the girl who got raped as well? If a country has a death penalty, then is it ok that that nation decide when to mete it out? Or are you only for the death penalty in the cases YOU think are o.k.? Are you personally the one - who at the end - has the permission and the right to tell the whole world where to draw the line? What are your criteria for those lines?

Witness to Innocence in Texas

The 24 men are members of Witness to Innocence, a national organization composed of exonerated former death row prisoners and their loved ones. They spent a combined total of nearly 200 years on death row for crimes they did not commit. They will be joined by State Rep. Elliott Naishtat and former Bexar County District Attorney Sam Millsap. Naishtat (D-Austin) is a longtime supporter of a moratorium on executions, while Millsap has become an outspoken critic of the death penalty since the 1993 execution of Ruben Cantu, who many believe was innocent.


Please move your mouse over the player to get the symbols to watch all 4 parts of this

9th Annual March to End Executions in Houston

As execution numbers rise in Texas, so does the determination to end all executions. Families of death row prisoners and community activists joined opponents of the death penalty on Oct. 25 for the 9th Annual March to End Executions in Houston.[...]

Clarence Brandley, who was freed from Texas death row in 1990 after a 10-year struggle proved his innocence, was the featured speaker. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for people like you standing up and not giving up. I came within hours of execution two times, but today I am here with you. Never stop the fight! Never give up! We can win!” Brandley said to the cheering crowd.[...]

Hearts and minds were filled with emotion as well as information when a dozen families of death row prisoners took the stage.

Delia Perez Meyers said that her brother, Louis Castro Perez, was innocent, and even though he had just lost a round in court, his family continues to fight to win his freedom.

Sonya Chavez spoke for the large family of Melissa Lucio, who was sent to death row in August. Lucio is one of 10 women on death row in Texas. Her family, who drove from Harlingen, Texas, wore tee shirts with her photo.

Eric Cathey is scheduled for execution on Nov. 18, despite strong evidence of innocence. His sister, Shelicia Cathey, spoke about the injustice in his case.

Alisha Joshlin spoke fondly about her fiancée Willie Pondexter and the terror of waiting for his March 3, 2009, execution date. With tears streaming down her face, she asked for help and support.[...]

Marisol Ramirez spoke for her husband, Juan Raul Ramirez; and Sylvia Garza, with her daughter hugging her, spoke for her son, Robert Garza. With tears streaming, Janie Medrano said she can no longer tell her 7-year-old son that his daddy, Rudy, will be home soon. Lydia Garza spoke for her son, Humberto Garza. All four families had banners with their loved one’s photo on them and a demand for the end of the Law of Parties.[...]

A highlight of the day was the participation of Kids Against the Death Penalty, formed by Jeff Wood’s daughter Paige and his nieces and nephews last spring. They participated in a highly public campaign for Wood, who won a stay of execution on Aug. 22. Gavin Been spoke for KADP. Speaking for Wood was Terry Been, his brother-in-law, friend and active supporter.[...]

Please read complete article here

Watch Today's 2 PM (CDT) WEBCAST from TEXAS/Special Notice from NCADP

SPECIAL NOTICE ABOUT TODAY'S WEBCAST FROM THE TEXAS STATE CAPITOL BY EXONERATED DEATH ROW PRISONERS Witness to Innocence's Friday news conference should be available for viewing at: http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php

It will be the Live Stream from the Speaker's Committee Room. The news conference is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time. Real Player is required for viewing the webcast. (See more on this amazing event which was posted recently--just below on this the JOH weblog & on another sent a few days ago by Ron Keine--both on this weblog... Most likely this program will also be archived on this same link later...

Also from NCADP...How many people know about El Dia De Los Muertos (The Day of The Dead)?

The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and beyond on November 2nd. Families spend time at the cemetery, visiting the graves of their relatives, cleaning and perhaps painting the headstones, arranging flowers, especially flowers of the dead (marigolds) and lighting candles. It is also the time when families construct special home altars dedicated to the spirits of their deceased loved ones. The altars range from simple to very elaborate and are usually filled with objects that provided pleasure to the departed person in life, including favorite food and drink. Altars dedicated to the spirits of deceased children often include toys, candy and other sweets.

I never knew about it until I went to work for the family of Cesar Chavez at the headquarters of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, where I lived from 1994-1996. The focus on El Dia De Los Muertos was always on the "UFW Martyrs," workers and organizers killed in struggle for human rights. We in the abolition movement might consider participating in this celebration as a way to recognize and celebrate the lives of those lost both to criminal murder and state sponsored exterminations. Those of you who have attended the Rededication Ceremony at the past few NCADP annual conferences have participated in dedications to our departed loved ones on an El Dia De Los Muertos-style altar.

We should also note that Nov. 2nd is All Souls Day, a day of remembrance for the faithful departed. Because it falls on a Sunday this year, some parts of the observance are done on Nov. 3.

No matter how you come to it, in particular this weekend NCADP wishes to recognize the leaders in our movement who honor the memory of their murdered and executed loved ones every day by speaking out as members of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, and the Journey of Hope ...From Violence to Healing, Inc. Please visit those web (and blog) pages and make a special contribution to one or all of them today!
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Thank You so much, NCADP for sending out this notice on both these items to the E-Abolitionists list today! We at the Journey of Hope and The JOH blog enjoy working with you!

Also for an easy connections to see a number of other related links, go to column at the lower right on this the JOH blogsite >>>

Gregory Wright Executed -- See Note of Empathy

NEW NOTE: Sadly, Gregory Wright's execution took place as premeditated Thursday, October 30, 2008. The program from Texas may be available Friday and a FEW days beyond on KPFT dot org out of Houston (90.1) Also perhaps use this link Here

NOTE OF EMPATHY

We here at The Journey of Hope weblog are grieving with you who have suffered this most recent terrible loss. We also send our empathy to those who are reminded of similar losses from state executions or other equally horrific murder. We hope to offer and encourage more statements of empathy in the future. If you have something empathetic or of insightful nature, be sure to COMMENT and watch the COMMENTS. Help us establish this the JOH blogspot as a truly interactive and healing place.

There are several items already posted under the entries for Gregory Wright.

How inhumane and beyond - this terrible state killing of so many. Yet another just took place yesterday eventing which continues to make Texas famous for the worst reasons world-wide and overshadows with terrible gloom the many beauties of this wide state and of her generous peoples!

To multiply the travesty of this killing of Gregory Wright is the fact that a number of lawyers and other experts are not at all convinced the "right" guy was executed!

So wherein is safety and justice served by such a state premeditated death? So why THIS execution? Is this merely punitive? Why is there so little concern as to whether or not justice and fairness has been served?

Of course - at the JOH - most regular readers of our website and blogspot know that we don't believe there is such thing as a "right" execution.

We also send prayers to all the family members of murder victims and the family of the executed (and those who may be reading this who've suffered both!).

All over the USA and over the wide world there are so many who are reminded over and over of their own tragedies in so many ways - including via the many trials leading to the executions of others which are so constantly in the news.

We pray and work for alternatives to execution such as PREVENTION to crime (which includes the reduction of homelessness, untreated mental illness, other kinds of poverty, the trauma of war and police systems with observable and accountable integrity). We strive with many others for improvements in our Court Systems - for true and clear, transparent justice.

We also work and pray for the oft slow-coming of healing through forgiveness (of self and others). This transformative grace-filled epiphany (not always experienced with feelings of peace) may simply begin with a determined intention to forgive.

Yet, over time, this goal or prayer or even longing for healing - a more constructive inner direction than revenge - may help to alleviate in some measure such tragedy...and much of the ongoing effect of tragedy.

There are many role-models here at The Journey of Hope - who, while they have experienced varying degree of forgiving - are still human like the rest of us. They come from a WIDE variety of experiences, places and personality.

May you who have been through something like Connie Wright (or like other family members have experienced of state killings or other kinds of murder) PLEASE reach out to Connie and others? You who have experienced similar loss - along with some portion of forgiveness and healing - are in a perfect position to offer the kind of empathy which is most helpful.

For others who want to comfort those close-by and far away--JUST LISTENING with compassion and good timing is often ALL that is required and beneficial as you may well know.

Let's continue to make sure that the murder of loved ones, the state killing of loved ones and the deaths of hard-working abolitionists before us - as well as the death of Gregory Wright - is NOT in vain.

Thank You for Listening and Tuning In,
Connie Nash, blogger at The Journey of Hope weblog

Live Stream: Watch Witness to Innocence's news conference

Kurt Rosenberg would like you to know that Witness to Innocence's Friday news conference should be available for viewing at: http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php

It will be the Live Stream from the Speaker's Committee Room. The news conference is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time. Real Player is required for viewing the webcast.

EXONERATED EX-DEATH ROW PRISONERS CALL FOR EXAMINATION OF TEXAS DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM

Two dozen exonerated ex-death row prisoners from across the country will hold a news conference to call for the establishment of a statewide commission on wrongful convictions while a moratorium is imposed on executions in Texas.

WHEN: 2:00 p.m., Friday, October 31, 2008
WHERE: Speaker's Committee Room. Room 2W.6 Texas State Capitol

DETAILS: The 24 men are members of Witness to Innocence, a national organization composed of exonerated former death row prisoners and their loved ones. They spent a combined total of nearly 200 years on death row for crimes they did not commit. They will be joined by State Rep. Elliott Naishtat and former Bexar County District Attorney Sam Millsap. Naishtat (D-Austin) is a longtime supporter of a moratorium on executions, while Millsap has become an outspoken critic of the death penalty since the 1993 execution of Ruben Cantu, who many believe was innocent.

Execution Watch6:00 -- 7:00 pm CDT tonightGREGORY WRIGHT

EXECUTION WATCH -- produced by Elizabeth Stein, hosted by Ray Hill, made possible by Otis McClay

Unless Gregory Wright gets the stay his attorneys and other supporters have been working to obtain, EXECUTION WATCH will have a show today at 6 p.m. CDT today to cover the state's execution of a man many believe to be innocent of the crime for which he was condemned.

Although KPFT's HD-2 channel remains out of service with Ike damage, EXECUTION WATCH may be heard on the internet, streaming live at http://www.executionwatch.org. Go to the website at 6 o'clock Central Daylight Time and click on the word "LISTEN". We'll do a show only if the state follows through with its plan to put Wright to death.

PREVIEW

Person to be executed: GREGORY EDWARD WRIGHT

Wright's 43rd birthday is this Saturday. He received a stay for his previous date, September 9th, for additional DNA testing on clothing used to convict him in the 1997 stabbing death of Donna Duncan Vick at her home in DeSoto, south of Dallas. The prosecution said she took in Wright, who was homeless, giving him food, money and shelter. His wife, Connie Wright, met him while he was in prison.

Host: RAY HILL
Legal Analyst: JIM SKELTON, Esq.

Featured Interview: PROF. MARY PENROSE
Professor Penrose is a member of the legal team for Wright's appeals. She teaches at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Her areas of emphasis include human rights, civil rights and habeas corpus.

Interview: PETER BELLAMY
Began corresponding with Wright after applying to a UK organization called Human Writes, http://www.humanwrites.org , which finds penpals for US death row inmates. Bellamy, a retired educator who lives near London, became convinced of Wright's innocence.

Reporter, Huntsville, Death House: GLORIA RUBAC
Gloria is a leader in the movement to abolish the death penalty and has been active for many years in efforts to reform the prison system.

Additional Reporting, Huntsville: NANCY BAILEY
She's accompanying Wright's wife, Connie, to Huntsville. Nancy is on the board of Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, www.tcadp.org. She is the death penalty coordinator for Amnesty International' s Houston chapter.

Any updates on Wright's stay will appear at executionwatch. org.
Creator of the site and EXECUTION WATCH technical director extraordinaire is Otis Maclay.

Regards,
Elizabeth Ann Stein
Producer

Greg Wright - Take action NOW!

Greg Wright is supposed to be executed on Oct. 30th. There are severe doubts about his guilt (see excerpts from the Amnesty International Petition below).

ACT NOW! Reed Urgent Action by Amnesty and write a petition!



Taken from:
PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 51/120/2008
UA 291/08 Death penalty / Legal concern 22 October 2008
USA (Texas) Gregory Edward Wright (m), white, aged 42
(Accentuations added for this blog, not part of the original UA)

Gregory Wright is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 30 October. He was sentenced to death in December 1997 for a murder committed nine months earlier.

Donna Vick was killed in her home in DeSoto, near Dallas, in the early hours of 21 March 1997. Later that day, John Adams entered a video store in Dallas and told the shop assistant to call the police because there had been a murder and he wanted to turn himself in. Adams was arrested and gave a statement to the police that he and Gregory Wright had been at Donna Vick’s house and that Wright had stabbed her to death.

Gregory Wright was tried first. Adams did not testify, but the prosecution used the statement he had given to the police that Wright was the actual murderer. The statement was a detailed account of the stabbing that was highly prejudicial to Wright. Wright was tried as the primary actor in the murder. The trial judge instructed the jury that it could convict Wright only if it found that he had actually attacked Donna Vick. The court did not instruct the jury on the “law of parties”, the Texas law under which the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished and each defendant may be held equally culpable. Wright was convicted and sentenced to death. John Adams was tried some six months later under the law of parties. He too was sentenced to death, and he remains on death row without an execution date.

On 21 June 2008, John Adams signed a statement that “I want the record clear that Greg Wright is innocent of the crime he’s here on death row for. If you kill him your [sic] killing a innocent man. Greg Wright was used as a scape goat. I’m doing this because I’m tired of seeing innocent people being killed for murders they’ve not done. The statement I made is a lie the one that I made at the first of our arrest. Greg Wright is innocent! I was there and know better.” In follow-up statements signed on 6 August 2008, Adams said that he had placed the murder on Wright “because I was trying to get it off my hands”. He said that he, not Wright, had killed Donna Vick, indicating that it was because of his newly found religious conviction that he was coming forward now. Adams has not testified to the truth of his declarations in open court. Another Texas death row prisoner has signed a statement that Adams “has told me several times that he panicked and was scared [after the crime] and that [Gregory Wright] did not kill the lady”.

Wright’s clemency petition also raises other issues. One relates to statements made by Daniel McGaughey, the shop assistant who was told by Adams to phone the police after the murder. A written statement that McGaughey gave to police on 25 March 1997 stated that Adams had approached him at the store and told him that “there was a murder and he wanted to turn himself in”, because he “could not live with himself any longer”. However, prior to giving this statement, McGaughey apparently told an investigator that Adams had said “I murdered someone in DeSoto and I can’t deal with it. I want to turn myself in”. The inconsistency between the statements attributed to McGaughey could render any tape recordings of his phone call to the police crucial. In a pre-trial hearing the prosecution informed Wright’s lawyers that there were no tapes, but after the trial began the defence learned that there was a tape of a call made by McGaughey. Questioned by the judge, the prosecutor said that a tape “did exist at one point”, but that he did not know where it was. The tape remains missing and has never been provided to Wright’s legal counsel.

According to the clemency petition, Wright’s trial lawyers did not learn of McGaughey’s earlier statement until after Wright’s trial had started, when the prosecution provided them with documents pertaining to the case. Wright’s lawyers attempted to locate McGaughey, but were unsuccessful and the prosecution claimed not to know his whereabouts. McGaughey signed an affidavit in December 2001 that the authorities investigating the case knew where he was living in 1997. He further stated that in early 1998, after Wright’s trial, he received a number of visits from the prosecution authorities preparing for the trial of John Adams. He was subpoenaed to testify at the trial, and spent two days at the courthouse, but he was never called by the state.

Wright’s trial lawyers signed affidavits in 2002 that the prosecution failed to disclose to them the existence of a witness, Jerry Causey, who subsequently testified at Adams’ trial that he had been in Donna Vick’s car with John Adams hours after the murder, and that Adams had told him that he had killed Vicks. In 2001, Causey signed an affidavit restating this claim and adding that he had been contacted by the prosecution in “approximately November of 1997”, i.e. before Wright’s trial. The trial lawyers’ affidavits assert that if they had known about Causey they would have called him at trial.

The prosecution linked Wright to the murder via articles found in a shack that Wright was said to sometimes stay in. Among the articles seized was a pair of jeans and a knife. DNA testing established that the blood on them was Donna Vick’s. The 2002 affidavits of Wright’s trial lawyers state that they had not learned until the third day of the trial that letters belonging to Adams had also been found in the shack. Each asserts that if he had known this he “would have used the letters to impeach the State’s evidence that the…shack and its contents were solely my client’s property”. At Adams’ trial six months after Wright’s, the prosecution emphasised to the jury that the shack was shared by Adams and Wright. Wright’s current lawyers state that preliminary DNA testing on the jeans found at the shack indicate Adams’ DNA on the inside thigh.

In its closing argument at Wright’s trial, the prosecution emphasised to the jury that Wright’s “bloody fingerprint is on the pillowcase that is right next to the head of the deceased”. According to the clemency petition, this partial fingerprint is the only physical evidence directly linking Wright to the victim’s body or the room in which the murder occurred. The reliability of this fingerprint evidence has been called into question. Before the trial, two detectives had failed to identify the print as Wright’s, and were not called to testify by the state. Instead the prosecution chose a retired print examiner to testify that there was a positive correlation. The clemency petition accuses the state of having “witness shopped” until it found an expert who would testify in this way. Two forensic scientists have signed affidavits since the trial that the fingerprint lacked sufficient detail or clarity to be identifiable to Wright or any other person. [...]

Please follow this link to go to the ai site and write appeals as soon as possible!

Montana Journey of Hope Reflections

Dearest Friends,

It has truly been an inspiring experience of hope and healing to be part of the Montana Journey of Hope. There have been 22 speakers on the Journey, including murder victim family members, death row exonerees, and relatives who have family members on death row. Marietta Jaeger-Lane, whose daughter Susie was kidnapped and murdered on a camping trip in Montana 35 years ago, has been a guiding light to many on the Journey. A founding member of the Journey of Hope (JOH), she, along with Bill Pelke, another JOH founding member, were instrumental in bringing the JOH to Montana.

Also on the Journey are Charlie King and Karen Brandow who have inspired many Montanans with their amazing life-giving music. There are also some incredible abolitionists from around the US. David Kaczynski, brother of Unabomber Ted, who was captured in Montana and subject of the federal government seeking the death penalty, is also with us. There is also Bill Babbitt who witnessed his brother's execution. Bill's brother, Manny, who was a Vietnam vet and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and mental illness, was responsible for the death of an elderly woman.

Our primary host group, the Montana Abolition Coalition, has been exceptional in every phase of organizing--from providing hospitality and transportation to organizing speaking events.

Montana is a state of breath-taking beauty. The mountainous terrain is spectacular. Most, but not all of the people I've encountered, are against the death penalty. Journey members have traveled hundreds of miles around this beautiful state to do what we can to turn the tide and help Montanans to abolish the death penalty. There are currently 2 people on death row and the Montana legislature is just a few votes shy of repealing the death penalty.

During the week I've been here, I and other Journey members have spoken to youth groups, high school and college students, law students, church groups and other public forums. It has been a special time to share the story of my brother Paul's murder, to ask people to pray for Dennis Soutar, the man who killed Paul, and to appeal to people to work to create a society where the mentally ill poor, like Dennis, get the treatment and help they need so that tragedies like what happened to Paul will be averted.

I and other Journey members have shared our stories at schools at three Indian reservations. At Stone Child College, located on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation which is comprised of Cree and Chippewa tribes, I began my talk with a confession and apology. I acknowledged that as a white person, I am a beneficary of legacy of genocide and slavery committed against native peoples. I addressed the pain and suffering that whites have caused Native peoples, and that I repent for my complicity in this suffering. I also spoke about when I was arrested with Dave Dellinger and others at the Justice Department ten years ago for calling for the freedom of Leonard Peltier--the courageous Native American political prisoner who is serving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit.

There have been many moving moments during the Journey. Among the most moving has been speaking with and hearing the stories of the death row exonerees who are on the Journey. Curtis McCarty spent 19 years on death row in Oklahoma. Greg Wilhoit spent 5 years on Oklahoma's death row. Juan Melindez spent 18 years on Florida's death row. Shujaa Graham spent 5 years on death row in San Quentin. They are among the 130 condemned to death who have now been exonerated.

As the JOH leaves Montana, we are very hopeful that Montana will soon join New Jersey to be the 15th state to abolish the death penalty. I am deeply grateful for your prayers and support in this great effort to end state-sanctioned homicide.

With love and gratitude,
Art

Newspaper articles generated by the Journey of Hope in Montana October 2-11

These are some of the examples of newpaper articles about the Montana Journey along with some other media sources

Enjoy the power of the Journey of Hope. Remember that you can bring the Journey of Hope to your state.

Peace,
Bill Pelke, President, Journey of Hope...from Violence to Healing

October 2nd

Montana Standard

October 3rd

Belgrade News
Bozeman Daily Chronichle

October 5th

Montana Standard

October 8th

University of Montana Kaimin
KFBB News
Queen City News

October 9th

Great Falls Tribune
KPAX News
Missoulian

October 10th

Kalispell Daily Interlake
Ravalli Republic

Ocotber 11th

Helena Independent Record

October 12th

Billings Gazette

October 14th

Flathead Beacon

Mothers in pain

This morning I read an artice in the news. "Mothers of killer and victim hug" - an atricle about something which happened just a few days ago. Let me give you an abstract from it and ask you how it makes YOU feel:

NORFOLK - Two mothers faced each other across the courtroom, one whose boy died at the hands of the other's only son.

Elsie Young recounted the last moments of her 15-year-old son, Dominic, at Norfolk's Enlanka Restaurant in November, when robbers holding guns made her cry out.

"I was scared," Young said from the witness stand in Norfolk Circuit Court on Friday. "They were young, and they don't think. I didn't know if they were going to get the money or they were going to shoot somebody."

Dominic, who had been using a pay phone outside, came running when his mother called, and Elsie's fears were realized: Dwayne Epps, 19, shot Dominic once in his chest.

When Epps' lawyer, B. Thomas Reed, pushed Young — implying through his questioning that perhaps Dominic had grabbed Epps and caused the gun to go off — her temper flared. "I'm tired of this crap. It's all about killing and robbing," she said.

Young had first urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Epps. Christmas was so hard without Dominic, she said; she had been used to having him nearby.

But she softened as the months passed. Epps sent her a letter from jail. "I'm sorry I killed your son," Young said he wrote to her. "I never killed somebody before. It hurts me that I did this."

She no longer wanted Epps to die, she said Friday. She had forgiven him.

Young took her seat in the courtroom, wearing a long black T-shirt with Dominic's image. The back read, "We love you. We miss you."

The defendant's mother, Marcia Epps, rose. "I want to express my sympathy to your family," she said. "I can't say anything to take this pain away. I thank you for forgiving my son. Whenever I think about my son, I'll think about your Dominic."

As she spoke, Marcia Epps moved across the courtroom, crossing the aisle that separates the rows of benches behind the defendant and the prosecutor. Epps moved among Young's family, embracing Elsie.[...]

I have a son as well -he's 19 years old now.

And I know that it would kill something inside of me if anyone would do something to him. I thank god every day that I cannot totally imagine how the mother of the victim must feel since one can only understand things one lived through already. But I know it would be the most painful experience of my life. It would just drive me crazy.

And then I think of the other mother this courtroom. Sitting there and having to listen to what your loved one did. And still loving him. Sitting there and having to fear for his life - not only for a minute or even a day but all the time until the trial is over with (and - if the worst thing happens - until he'll somewhen get executed). Always living with the reality that the child you had born is incarcerated and will get killed soomer or later. Plus the pain of what he did to others...a pain which will hunt you day and night - just as much as the the loos of the loved one hunts the mother of the victim.

The death penalty only creates more victims. Reading this story it just gives this sentence so much more meaning, let's it come to life instead of being just plain and very far away theory.

Stay for Troy Davis!

Today the federal appeals court in Atlanta stayed the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, who was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Monday evening. The stay is based on a new appeal that was filed Wednesday seeking permission to file a new lawsuit based on innocence claims.
Please read more about this here

Oct 30th to Nov 2nd: Witness to Innocence speaks in Texas

Witness to Innocence Exonerates and other members will be in Austin Texas for our largest ever seminar from Thursday Oct 30th to Sunday Nov. 2. See more under the blog on Events & Wright appeal...

End of Month: URGENT Actions/Events: Gregory Wright: Reprieve Appeal/Exonerees & More Events in Texas ...

Greg Wright with his wife Connie during their June, 7, 2008 visit

Please keep coming back right here & be sure to read to the end of this post &/or scroll if you've already seen & acted on Wright's appeal. Other Events will be Posted under this Amnesty I/USA Urgent Action Appeal (which only takes but a couple of minutes) Since there are so many other events of keen interest to all abolitionists and the JOH, we will keep them posted here...let us know if we miss any?
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APPEAL FOR GREGORY WRIGHT

Even if you have already sent a clemency letter (or signed a petition seeking reprieve for Gregory Wright) please send another via the Amnesty International USA website.

Here is how this letter reads:

lPlease grant clemency for Gregory Wright. Mr. Wright is scheduled to be executed on October 30 for the 1997 murder of Donna Vick. On the day of the murder, March 21, 1997, John Adams went to a Dallas video store and instructed the shop assistant to call the police, because he wanted to turn himself in for committing murder in nearby Desoto. Adams was arrested, but he gave a statement declaring that Wright stabbed Vick to death.

On June 21, 2008, Adams signed a statement declaring, “I want the record clear that Greg Wright is innocent of the crime he’s here on death row for. If you kill him your [sic] killing a innocent man.” In a follow-up statement dated August 6, 2008, Adams said that he, not Wright, killed Vick. Adams said he had blamed Wright to get the murder “off [his] hands,” but that his newly found religious conviction was leading him to confess. Another Texas death row inmate has signed a statement declaring that Adams “has told me several times that he panicked and was scared [after the crime] and that [Gregory Wright] did not kill the lady.”

Wright’s lawyers were never given a tape of the call made by the video store employee to the police on the day of the murder. Additionally, prosecutors failed to disclose the employee’s whereabouts to Wright’s lawyers, though affidavits submitted by the employee suggest that they knew where he was living at the time of Wright’s trial. Wright’s lawyers were also not made aware of the existence of another witness, who signed affidavits in 2001 stating that he had been with Adams when Adams admitted to killing Vick.

Furthermore, though prosecutors linked Wright to Vick’s murder via articles found in a shack where Wright sometimes stayed, Wright’s lawyers were not made aware until after the trial began that letters belonging to Adams were also taken from the shack. The lawyers assert that, had they known of these letters, they would have used them to refute that prosecution’s claim that the shack’s contents were solely Wright’s property. Also, preliminary DNA testing shows that blood on a pair of jeans taken from the shack matches Adams’.

Finally, in closing arguments at Wright’s trial, prosecutors focused on the bloody fingerprint found on a pillowcase in Vick’s bedroom. This partial fingerprint was the only physical evidence directly linking Wright to Vick’s murder. However, prosecutors had not called two detectives that failed to identify the print as Wright’s to testify. Instead, they called a retired print examiner, who testified that the prints on the pillowcase matched Wright’s. This suggests that prosecutors “witness shopped.” Moreover, since Wright’s trial, two forensic scientists have signed affidavits that the fingerprint lacked sufficient detail or clarity to be identifiable to anyone, let alone Wright.

We strongly urge you to demonstrate your respect for justice and human life by doing everything in your power to commute the death sentence of Gregory Wright, and support a moratorium on executions in Texas. Thank you for your time and attention to this serious matter.

To Sign this Letter, please take two minutes to go to the Amnesty Site:
here

PPS: donations, however small, are desperately needed for legal and/or funeral expenses--You can offer such support: » here
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AUSTIN, TEXAS

Witness to Innocence Exonerates and other members will be in Austin, Texas for our largest ever seminar from Thursday Oct 30th to Sunday Nov. 2.

Talk about the belly of the beast! We will be there as Death Star State has accelerated it's extermination of lesser human beings at the rate of two per week. The average in Texas is usually 24 executions per year with the one year record going to Geo W. at a heart stopping rate of 25.

Keep in mind the fact that for every 8 people executed, One is exonerated. How many people would put their kids on a school bus if they knew that the kid had a 1 in 8 chance of dying before reaching the school. Then the kid still has a return trip with the same odds. You bet your ass that the government would be all over it with investigations, studies, and immediate moratorium on all buses.

Yet with these same odds of one in eight we trust our government to decide who lives and who they get to kill. Knowing all along that mistakes are made and many of these errors are the cognizant actions of corrupt prosecutors. As Juan Melendez says in the book Executioners doorstep "We need to pass legislation to hold prosecutors and investigators accountable who proceed with a death penalty case when they know they have an innocent man on their hands."

I find it astonishing that two thirds of all death penalty cases are overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct and still the voting populace and the Supreme Court have no problem with it.

As we of Witness to Innocence launch our incursion into the state of Texas, we hope to be well in the face of the Arrogant, Smug, and Moronic proponents of the death penalty. This is the same state that executed Carlos De Luna on Dec. 7th 1989, Rubin Cantu on August 24 1993 and Todd Willingham on Feb 17 2004 knowing fully that all three of these men were innocent.

On Friday afternoon Oct. 31st. we will be doing a large press conference at the state capitol where we expect to be a powerful witness. I encourage all our Texas abolitionists and friends to attend.

When when we speak out in Texas, I promise you we will be loud. I just hope they listen.

Ron Keine

To the living we owe respect. To the dead we owe the truth . Voltaire

I firmly believe that every man, woman and child on this earth No matter what their race, color, ethnicity, religion or political preferences has the right and is entitled---- to my opinion. ---- Ron Keine

No One is Above the Law: Jon Burge's Legacy of Tortured Confessions -- 122 torture victims

Photo of Jon Burge credit to NPR.org Steve Nesius

How coerced torture confessions (frequently, as in Burge's case, applied to African-Americans)--such confessions can and do lead to death penalty or life without parole--ruined lives, an angry legacy for the young...

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Outrage Lies at Heart of Burge Charges Published on October 22, 2008

BY CAROL MARIN (Chicago's) Sun-Times

Justice for Melvin Jones is coming late.

Jones is dying. In and out of consciousness, according to his lawyers, it's possible he doesn't yet know the big news that broke Tuesday. That former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge, the man he met in an interrogation room years ago, heard a loud federal knock on the door of his lovely home nestled beside a boat dock in Florida early Tuesday morning.

Arrested and cuffed, Burge is now charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, and he is ordered to appear in federal court in Chicago Monday.

It took too long, 26 years. And it took the intervention of the feds.

That's because neither the Chicago Police Department nor the Cook County state's attorney's office nor Mayor Daley, who once served as state's attorney, nor a court-appointed special prosecutor had the courage or the political will to stand up against the shame that Burge brought upon this city.

It's not that Melvin Jones is a sympathetic character. He is a career criminal I met nine years ago in state prison. But the story he told then -- the one he never wavered from -- was chilling. And corroborated, by the way, by attorneys for the city of Chicago. It's not something they've ever wanted to talk about.

Here's the story.

And here's why it should outrage every one of us who sends a nickel in tax money to city or county officials.

In 1982, Melvin Jones was picked up on suspicion of murder. He was taken to Area 2 police headquarters on the South Side. That's where he met the infamous Jon Burge.

In a 1999 interview for CBS' 60 Minutes II, Jones quoted Burge as saying, "You only have two rights when you come in here, and that's to confess or get your ass kicked."

Jones said he refused to confess to a crime he didn't commit. That's when, he told me, Jon Burge and two other officers brought out a small hand-cranked electrical device with alligator clips. He saw it spark, then felt a shock as they touched his foot with the clip, and then his inner thigh. And then, Jones said Burge told him, "I'm going to put it on your testicles." Jones said he was in tears, "Trying to holler as loud as I can. . . . I was begging them to stop."

They didn't until Jones confessed. Convicted by one court, Jones was ultimately freed by another.

In 1993, when the heat on the city was too great, Burge was finally fired for the torture of murder suspect Andrew Wilson. Little-noticed at the time was that city attorneys admitted in court that Wilson wasn't Burge's only victim. The city acknowledged, "Burge electro shocked Melvin Jones on the genitals and thigh and threatened him with a gun."

The same city officials who until that point defended Burge, deserted him, offering not a shred a public explanation. But they continued to pay for his defense in all the civil suits that would follow. As a result, you and I are still paying. Twenty million dollars in just four cases.

Seven million for one investigation. Uncounted millions in outside legal counsel for Burge and his band of officers.

Jack Byrne is one of them.

A decorated sergeant, he is now retired and working as a private detective.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Byrne said, "I feel very bad for Jon Burge. I've known him all my life. I don't believe these charges. And I stand by all my statements that I never tortured anyone."

Byrne said one more time, "I feel bad for Jon."

I don't. I feel bad for the suspects -- 122 of them by one count -- who were tortured.

I feel sorry for Melvin Jones. A thug and crook, you bet. Even he admitted police had a good reason to question him.

"I'm a prime candidate," he told me. "But I also could be innocent."

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Blogger's Note: Well, there's a lot of muddle still--looks like--who knows who was guilty for sure among the many Burge tortured into confession--122 folk--mostly AFRICAN-AMERICAN...Twenty-six years and still the facts are being debated...

Yet this story seems way too important with so many implications for prevention, justice and more--both at home and abroad--for the reputation of the US, the well being of our own citizens and immigrants--and the future implications of those detained in US prisons, GTMO (whom Bush had and has not intentions of closing), ABU G., the hundreds of sites around the globe.

All of these are holding and torturing psychologically and otherwise without let-up, harassing, intimidating CONFESSIONS FOR the US (where those in charge still believe that they will remain ABOVE THE LAW.

According to many former military officers, prosecutors, lawyers, international human rights lawyers, those who've worked with our own death penalty inmates such as Clive Stafford Smith (Reprieve) and many once in this present administration-- Many if not most of those held are innocent of their detainment, most not yet charged...but who will ever know in most their cases the facts because those who hold them believe they are ABOVE THE LAW...and the constitution??

The simple fact is that BURGE and a lot of his cronies -- Law Officers still (Now isn't that a MISUSE of the term--Law Officers?)--a lot of these police past and present thought (and still think) Burge was above the law and the clarity by a simple search on the internet is that Death Penalty lawyers and many other experts involved in seeking his indictment...for way too long...

As my two young adult sons, both African-American, asked me last night "How come all the fat cats always get off and all the little guys don't have a chance?" Well--what are we going to answer if not, well here is one case when a fat cat just might finally have to answer to the law. IF not, what can we use to help our youth to WANT to follow the law...at least until they really get human and civil rights & ethics fully firm and instilled inside? And no matter how wired any of us are with internal human rights and ethics--we all really appreciate an occasional back up from law once in awhile, no?

What does this one case among multitudes say about the rule of law and the value of human rights, civil rights and ethics in our Nation -- A country which once in awhile was sometimes a light to the Nations on such values?

This month the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be celebrated...will we as a nation still be able to celebrate this occasion or will we have to hang our heads in shame and look BACK to a better day?

And if we are truly anti-death penalty folk, we can't forget all the hundreds of EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS and ASSASSINATIONS that have happened with secret US awareness since the occupations of Iraq/Afghanistan -- there and all over the world...and all the detainees held around the world by US military who've been coerced by torture, intimidation and psychological abuse to confess to facts that are completely untrue. Let me know if you're interested in THESE EXECUTIONS and False charges...newlease7@yahoo.com (Please entitle it on Jorge piece-JOH--subject heading)

Well, I could go on...but will wait for some of your responses and some more expert analysis, reporting and OpEd...

By Connie, one of The JOH blogsite's bloggers

Event in Western North Carolina Thursday October 23 7-8 PM UNC-A

The North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium would like to extend an invitation to you and your organization to participate in a discussion on efforts to create a coordinated campaign amongst those connected with the issues of capital punishment reform.

The meeting is scheduled for October 23, 2008 to occur between 7-8pm at the UNC-Asheville Campus. The Meeting will take place in the “Grotto” location-basement of the Highsmith Center next to the food court.

For a campus map view: Here

The purpose of this meeting will be to bring together representatives from the
legal community, academia, social work and mitigation field and faith-community groups who are already committed to the issues of reform, abolition, restorative justice and moratorium efforts. NCCM would like to connect such individuals/
/organizations so as issues arise, a central coalition in Western NC exists to distribute information, discuss future death penalty reform related plans,coordinate actions,facilitate new events. It is our intention to extend any necessary resources and work effort as needed to maintain such a coalition.

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