Dear Governor Richardson:
As Past Chairman of my local Republican party and the only living survivor of New Mexico's death row, I would like to offer a few words in support of the bill to repeal the death penalty. Although innocent, I was nearly executed. I was pronounced guilty by twelve men and women who had no reasonable doubt in their mind that I committed a particularly brutal and atrocious murder of a 26 year old man--William Velten. I am among the ranks of 130 exonerated men and women in the United States who were almost put to death in error. In my case, my innocence and that of my three co-defendants was discovered when the real killer underwent a religious conversion and confessed to a priest. There are others who were not so fortunate and were put to death before they were able to establish their innocence. Just to name a few I offer the following.
Carlos DeLuna Texas Conviction: 1983, Executed: 1989 Ruben Cantu Texas Convicted: 1985, Executed: 1993 Larry Griffin Missouri Conviction: 1981, Executed: 1995 Joseph O'Dell Virginia Conviction: 1986, Executed: 1997 David Spence Texas Conviction: 1984, Executed: 1997 Leo Jones Florida Convicted: 1981, Executed: 1998 Gary Graham Texas Convicted: 1981, Executed: 2000 Cameron Willingham Texas Convicted: 1992, Executed: 2004
The most shocking cases are those of Charles hudspeth and William Marion. In both of these separate instances the murder victim was found to be alive and well but only after the execution of these two innocent men.
Most of the 130 exonerees were not freed by the system, but in spite of it. They were saved by pure luck, usually when outside sources for one reason or another took up their plight. Almost every exoneree and executed man did not have money to put on an adequate defense.
We have a system so broken it cannot be fixed. New Mexico now has the opportunity to repeal this broken system and to put an end to a practice that sets our country apart from so many of our democratic allies and places us in the company of notorious human rights violators, such as China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Indeed the United States has the unenviable distinction of being in the same peer group these nations, the world's leading executioners.
New Mexico has the highest rate of exonerations in the country with four exonerations to one execution. This does not mean that the people of New Mexico are bad or that New Mexico's government is heartless. It is because of one overzealous prosecutor who was entertaining a run for Governor. To this day he refuses to admit he was wrong even though his assistant was disbarred and three sheriff's officers were fired over their wrong-doing in this case. what he did was so horrendous that he has become the poster child of what can happen when someone abuses power. The power the citizens have given him over the life and death of other human beings. He almost killed 4 innocent human beings. If he had succeeded the blood would have been on the hands of the whole state. Not just one incompetent prosecutor
Since 1961 New Mexico has had ONE execution and we currently have two people on New Mexico's death row. That ONE execution has proven costly. A very conservative estimate is that the death penalty has cost New Mexico taxpayers at least $100 million since 1961. The death penalty has squandered New Mexico's scarce resources without keeping its communities one bit safer.
The sooner New Mexico abolishes the death penalty, the better. There are so many ways New Mexico could more productively use the resources it currently squanders on the death penalty. For example, it could provide more comprehensive services to murder victims' families or it could fund its law enforcement officers better.
You can read more about my story and the stories of four other death row exonerees in the recently published book "At Execution's Doorstep," by Leslie Lytle. For more information, please visit www.executionsdoorstep.com.
Thank you for your time, and please, if you have any questions, I do not hesitate to call me at (number deleted by editor) I will respond personally.
Ron Keine, Sterling Heights, Michigan
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