Oct. 29
TEXAS:
Please use the information in the summary below to write to the Board of
Pardons and Paroles asking them to recommend to the Governor that he
grant clemency and commute Demarco McCullum's sentence to life in prison
--- and to Governor Perry asking him to grant clemency and commute the
sentence to life in prison.
Contact information is below the summary.
DeMarco McCullum
November 9, 2004
The state of Texas plans to execute DeMarco McCullum, Nov. 9 for the
abduction and murder of Michael Burzinski in Harris County. The crime
took place in 1996 when McCullum, a black man, was 19 years old. He was
accompanied by three co-defendants who were his high school football
teammates. Burzinski, a white man, was accosted by the four individuals
outside a nightclub where he was robbed and made to withdraw $400 cash
from an ATM machine.
The prosecution maintains Burzinski was targeted because McCullum and
his co-defendants thought he was gay and would consequently be carrying
a lot of money. According to the testimony presented at trial, McCullum
shot and killed Burzinski after he said the four co-defendants names out
loud and proclaimed he needed to kill the victim because he knew their
names.
McCullum was sentenced to death based on the notion that he would
continue to be a future threat to society in or out of prison. He has
been in prison for 10 years and has been a model prisoner. McCullum
accepts full responsibility for his actions and is truly remorseful for
the crimes he has committed. There is every reason to believe McCullum
could continue to live peacefully in a structured environment.
McCullum's attorney was quick to express his concern that the state was
executing a reformed law abiding man who is very different today than he
was at 19 when the crime was committed.
Jurors for capital murder trials in Texas are required to state whether
there is a probability that the defendant would pose a future threat to
society. Oregon is the only other state to allow this issue to weigh in
to whether a death sentence should be given. Of 38 states with the death
penalty, 29 do not allow any evidence surrounding posing a future threat
to society to be considered.
A recent study conducted by the Texas Defender Service found that Texas'
method of determining whether an inmate poses a future threat to society
has been incorrect 95 percent of the time.
The study pointed to the fact that the American Psychiatric Association
has affirmed the notion that the "unreliability of psychiatric
predictions of long-term future dangerousness (are) by now an
established fact within the profession." The psychiatric community
continues to maintain expert testimony regarding this issue should be
deemed inadmissible at capital sentencing hearings.
McCullum's case serves as an illustration of the fact that the process
Texas courts use to determine a future long-term threat to society is
faulty. However the issue continues to send many defendants to the death
chamber.
The state of Texas has already executed four people in October and is
scheduled to execute a fifth. Six additional executions are scheduled in
November, one in December and four in January.
**********************************************
Contact information is below for the Governor and the members of the
Board of Pardons and Paroles If possible send individual letters to
each board member. If you feel you can only write one letter to the
Board of Pardons and Paroles, send it to Maria Ramirez, Clemency
Admenistrator, at the first address below, asking her in your letter to
forward a copy to all board members.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Maria Ramirez, Clemency Administrator
Executive Clemency Section
P.O. Box 13401, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
FAX: (512) 4065786
Members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles:
Rissie Owens, Board Presiding Officer
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Elvis Hightower, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Jose L. Aliseda, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1111 West Lacy St.
Palestine, TX 75801
903-723-1441 Fax
Linda Garcia, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1212 N. Velasco, Suite 201
Angleton, TX 77515
979-849-8741 Fax
Charles Aycock, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
5809 S. Western, Suite 237
Amarillo, TX 79110
806-358-6455 Fax
Juanita Gonzalez, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
3408 S. State Hwy. 36
Gatesville, TX 76528
254-865-2629 Fax
The Governor:
Honorable Rick Perry
Governor, State of Texas
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
(512) 463-1849 Fax
*****************************************
Please use the information in the summary below to write to the Board of
Pardons and Paroles asking them to recommend to the Governor that he
grant clemency and commute Frederick McWilliams's sentence to life in
prison --- and to Governor Perry asking him to grant clemency and commute
the sentence to life in prison.
Contact information is below the summary.
Frederick McWilliams
November 12, 2004
The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Frederick Patrick McWilliams,
a black man, Nov. 10 for the 1996 murder of Alfonso Rodriguez, a Latino
man. McWilliams was sentenced to death at 22 in Harris County.
The murder was the result of McWilliams' attempt to rob Mr. Rodriguez
and steal his car and pieces of jewelry. His friend Kenneth Adams was
with McWilliams at the time of the crime.
McWilliams' sentencing was based upon references to unproven federal
offenses. These allegations were weak and McWilliams' connections to
these crimes tenuous at best. The jury was told of a rape and robbery,
for which the sole connection was based upon a red car in which black
males were present.
In 2003, the Fifth Circuit court denied an appeal filed on McWilliams'
behalf. The main legal issue raised was the Simmons, a U.S. Supreme
Court precedent which requires that jurors not be given misleading
information regarding the amount of time a defendant would have to serve
in prison if he is not sentenced to death. It should be further noted
that the counsel appointed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to
prepare the state writ never met with McWilliams, did not investigate
the case, and raised only those issues available in the record.
The current problems with the Houston Police Department Crime Lab
demonstrate why this death sentence is unworthy of confidence. The HDP
Crime Lab's troubles began in late 2002 when an independent
investigation and subsequent audit revealed widespread deficiencies in
quality assurance programs, organization, personnel qualifications,
evidence and sample control, and several other serious problems. Of 28
applicable subcategories of the audit, the Serology/DNA section of the
Lab failed 23 of them.
In response to these findings, the Houston Police Department shut down
the DNA division of the crime lab while material from 400 cases was
re-examined. This retesting process showed a rate of error over 20
percent.
Harris County has also demonstrated unreliable forensic work and faulty
ballistics analyses in the firearms section of the HDP Crime Lab in at
least four capital cases.
Most recently, the Houston Police Department found evidence that
involved cases from 1979 through the 1990's which had previously been
lost. Though the evidence has been largely recovered, there is still a
great deal of uncertainty as to the contents of the boxes, which cases
are affected, and whether any of the boxes include evidence surrounding
capital cases.
As a result of the HPD Crime Lab problems, the Chief of Police requested
a halt on executions in Harris County and State Senator Rodney Ellis
called for a halt to executions as well. Governor Perry has insisted
this is not necessary.
Less than one-fourth of the state's murders take place in Harris County,
but it accounts for 36 percent of all inmates under death sentence in
Texas. It is inconceivable that a county with such large-scale problems
would continue to execute people especially at such an alarming rate.
**********************************************
Contact information is below for the Governor and the members of the
Board of Pardons and Paroles If possible send individual letters to
each board member. If you feel you can only write one letter to the
Board of Pardons and Paroles, send it to Maria Ramirez, Clemency
Admenistrator, at the first address below, asking her in your letter to
forward a copy to all board members.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Maria Ramirez, Clemency Administrator
Executive Clemency Section
P.O. Box 13401, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
FAX: (512) 4065786
Members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles:
Rissie Owens, Board Presiding Officer
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Elvis Hightower, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Jose L. Aliseda, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1111 West Lacy St.
Palestine, TX 75801
903-723-1441 Fax
Linda Garcia, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1212 N. Velasco, Suite 201
Angleton, TX 77515
979-849-8741 Fax
Charles Aycock, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
5809 S. Western, Suite 237
Amarillo, TX 79110
806-358-6455 Fax
Juanita Gonzalez, Board Member
Board of Pardons and Paroles
3408 S. State Hwy. 36
Gatesville, TX 76528
254-865-2629 Fax
The Governor:
Honorable Rick Perry
Governor, State of Texas
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
(512) 463-1849 Fax0
