death penalty news October 25, 2004
TEXAS: 'I can't believe they still want to kill me' - But killer has support from the victim's wife, sons Dominique Green rubs his hand over his shaved head as his eyes dart around the small iron stall. There's no time to discuss the past. His scheduled execution is days away, and he would rather talk about the power of redemption. "I had two choices when I came to death row," says Green, 30, from behind the thick glass window that separates inmates from visitors. "I could either believe I was a monster or prove to everyone I wasn't." Green is to die by injection Tuesday for the 1992 murder of Andrew Lastrapes Jr., who was gunned down during an early-morning robbery in southwest Houston. Lastrapes was one of 10 people robbed during a three-day crime spree. Green has admitted to participating in the robbery but denies being the triggerman in the murder. He was 18 when the crime was committed. His case has garnered the support of an unlikely array of people, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, who earlier this year traveled from South Africa to visit Green on death row. Last week, the victim's widow and two grown sons issued a public appeal to spare Green's life. "All of us have forgiven Dominique for what happened and want to give him another chance at life," the victim's wife, Bernatte Luckett Lastrapes, wrote in a letter to Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. "Everyone deserves another chance." That act of forgiveness was the culmination of a long journey, which took place largely within Green's 6-by-10-foot prison cell. Lessons of the street Green recently talked at length about that journey. By the time he landed on death row at 19, Green said he had survived an abusive home and the tough streets of Houston's Third Ward. He had been arrested for selling drugs and spent two years in juvenile hall. Every lesson he learned he learned from the streets. But growing up with a mentally ill mother and running with a gang of small-time criminals didn't prepare him for life on death row, locked up for 23 hours a day. Using art to combat the austerity of prison life, Green carries a stack of battered notebooks filled with drawings and poetry about youth, life on death row and missed opportunities. He counsels younger inmates and helps others research the law. And he struggles with the heartache of losing friends to the executioner's needle. "I've lost a lot of friends since I've been here," he said. "I just try to write about their experiences and keep their memories alive by talking about the good times we had." None was as painful as the Oct. 5 execution of his childhood friend Edward Green, who was condemned for the murder of an elderly couple 12 years ago. The two friends, who were not related, talked about everything. Days before their death warrants were signed, they wondered who would be executed first. "He hoped he went before me because he didn't think he could take mine," Green said softly into the receiver of the prison phone. But while Green argues for a second chance at life, victims' rights activists counter that transforming oneself in prison isn't as difficult as one might think. "It's kind of hard to maintain the same lifestyle you had on the streets when you're in prison," said Andy Kahan, the Houston mayor's crime victims' advocate. Changes 'irrelevant' He said Green's accomplishments are notable but cannot atone for the crime. "More power to him for whatever he's done in prison to change his life, but it's irrelevant in the scheme of things," said Kahan. "It was the wrong decision to murder and rob people and cause family members a lifetime of pain. It doesn't diminish the consequences of your actions, no matter what you do on death row." Though he doesn't want to die, the boyish-looking Green expressed gratitude for the lessons he learned from some of the most violent criminals in the state. "There are a lot of great men here," he said. "They taught me things I wouldn't have learned otherwise. They taught me about responsibility and respect and how to be a human being." A prison spokeswoman said Green has had no major disciplinary action against him on death row and is considered a level one prisoner, which means he is one of the best-behaved and least restricted. "I look at my life and all I've done, and I can't believe they still want to kill me," he said. Defense attorneys are using more than Green's accomplishments to try to halt his execution. They say he should be granted a new trial because racial bias may have played a role in his conviction. Fourth man not charged Two men who were with Green the night Lastrapes was killed received lesser prison terms for robbery. A fourth man was not charged. All three testified against Green. The three who were convicted were black, and the one white man in the group was never charged despite the fact that police originally intended to charge him with robbery, said David Dow, director of Texas Innocence Network and one of the attorneys representing Green. Dow also said recent revelations at the Houston Police Department could have a bearing on Green's case. The key evidence at his trial was a ballistics test performed by the HPD crime lab, linking a gun found in the car in which Green and two others were apprehended to the bullet that killed Lastrapes. Citing errors in other work at the crime lab, Dow said this test also could be flawed. Furthermore, in August, police found 280 boxes of mislabeled and improperly stored evidence from 8,000 cases dating more than a decade. Dow said it would be unlawful to execute Green until that evidence is inventoried. Crime lab doubts The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals struck down a motion last week to delay Green's execution, even though Judge Tom Price said in a dissenting vote that all executions in cases whose convictions rested on evidence processed at the HPD crime lab should be postponed until the evidence can be independently verified. Dow says he plans to file a new request for a stay of execution today. "The District Attorney's Office continues to urge the courts to go forward with executions, even though nobody knows whether HPD possesses evidence related to the murder of Mr. Lastrapes or the other crimes the state introduced during Mr. Green's trial," he said. Assistant District Attorney Jack Roady denied that race played a role in the plea-bargain deals that were made with Green's co-defendants. He also said concerns over the 280 boxes of evidence are unfounded. "His lawyers have not pointed to anything specific or any missing evidence," he said. "All of the evidence from the case is accounted for." Plea deal rejected Green said he rejected a 30-year plea deal before his trial began because he was innocent. A week before his execution date, he said he does not regret his decision. "I would have been too busy (in prison) thinking about what I was going to do when I got out," he said. "I wouldn't have had time to try to change my life." The son of Andrew Lastrapes Jr. plans to visit Green on death row today. Last week, Andre Luckett Lastrapes, 22, speaking on behalf of his family, publicly asked the state to spare Green's life. Green said he is scared to be optimistic about his future. "I hope for the best," he said. "But I know the worst is right around the corner." (source: Houston Chronicle)
