TEXAS:
URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
11 January 2005
Further information on UA 299/04 issued 8 November 2004
and re-issued 19 November 2004
Death penalty / Legal concern
USA/Texas: Troy Albert Kunkle
Troy Kunkle (m), white, aged 38, has received a new execution
date of 25 January. He was convicted in 1985 of the murder of
Stephen Horton in 1984. In December 2004, a US Supreme
Court Justice said that Troy Kunkle's death sentence was
imposed in violation of the US Constitution, but that the Court
was procedurally barred by a technical issue of state versus
federal law from remedying that violation.
At the time of the crime, Troy Kunkle was just over 18 years old,
with no criminal record, and emerging from a childhood of
deprivation and abuse (see original UA). It was not discovered
until evaluations conducted long after the trial that Troy Kunkle
suffers from schizophrenia.
At the time of Troy Kunkle's trial, Texas capital juries were only
asked two questions when deciding sentencing: whether the
defendant had caused the death, and whether there was a
probability that the defendant would commit future criminal acts
of violence. An affirmative response to both questions resulted in
a death sentence, regardless of whether the jury believed the
defendant should get a life sentence. This procedure was found
unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in Penry v Lynaugh in
1989 and the Texas capital statute was changed in 1991 as a
result. Under today's law, Texas capital jurors are additionally
asked whether they consider there is enough mitigating evidence
to warrant a life sentence. Several of the jurors from Troy
Kunkle's trial have since suggested that they would have voted
for a life sentence if they had been asked the mitigation question
(see original UA).
Following the Penry ruling, Troy Kunkle's lawyers began
appealing to the courts that he be granted a new sentencing
hearing. This was based on the grounds that he was sentenced
under an unconstitutional law that had prevented his jury from
giving mitigating effect to evidence presented by his trial
lawyers. For the next 15 years, however, these appeals were
denied. Other Texas death row prisoners in the same situation
were executed during this period without getting new sentencing
hearings. Then, in 2004, in Tennard v Dretke, the US Supreme
Court moved to remedy the situation of lower courts
misapplying the Penry ruling, accusing for example the US
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit of ''invok[ing] its own
restrictive gloss'' on the Penry decision. Several Texas inmates
have been granted new sentencing hearings. However, the Texas
courts have relied upon a procedural technicality to avoid
addressing the merits of Troy Kunkle's claim following the
Tennard ruling. Court rules prevent inmates from repeatedly
filing a claim that they have already lost, but there is no
exception for the situation where the inmate earlier lost the claim
because the court misapplied the law. Nor can the federal courts
intervene because this technical rule is a state law that federal
courts are not allowed to interpret.
On 13 December, the Supreme Court announced that it would
not consider Troy Kunkle's appeal, having stayed his execution
shortly before it was due to be carried out on 18 November.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the Court did not have
jurisdiction to reach the merits of Troy Kunkle's claim,
explaining that the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals not to stop the execution had been ''independently based
on a determination of state law'' rather than on the merits of
Kunkle's federal constitutional claim. Justice Stevens said that
this procedural obstacle prevented the Supreme Court from itself
reaching the underlying federal law claim, adding: ''That result is
regrettable because it seems plain that Kunkle's sentence was
imposed in violation of the Constitution''. In other words,
according to Justice Stevens, if a review of Troy Kunkle's claim
was granted, his death sentence would be overturned and he
would be entitled to a new sentencing hearing.
The State of Texas set a new execution date, apparently
unconcerned that Troy Kunkle's death sentence was imposed in
violation of the US Constitution. Texas accounts for 337 of the
945 executions carried out in the USA since 1977, many in
contravention of international safeguards.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible, in your own words:
- expressing sympathy for the friends and family of Stephen
Horton, explaining that you are not seeking to condone the
manner of his death or to minimize the suffering caused;
- expressing concern that Troy Kunkle was sentenced to death
under an old law that did not allow the jury to give proper
consideration to mitigating evidence, noting that several jurors
from the trial have since said that they would have voted for life
if not constrained by this now-defunct law;
- noting that no court has ever held a hearing into Troy Kunkle's
claim, that the US Supreme Court has been unable to reach the
merits of this claim due to a purely procedural obstacle, and that
Justice John Paul Stevens has said Troy Kunkle was sentenced in
violation of the US Constitution;
- expressing concern that the jurors who sentenced Troy Kunkle
to death were not presented with any expert mental health
evidence, noting that post-conviction evaluations suggest that he
suffers from serious mental illness, including schizophrenia;
- pointing out that the power of executive clemency exists
precisely to remedy errors that the courts are unwilling or unable
to remedy;
- calling on the Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that
the governor commute this death sentence;
- calling on the governor to accept any such recommendation of
clemency, or to issue a reprieve in the event of a
recommendation against clemency and to urge the Board
members to reconsider.
APPEALS TO: (Note: In all appeals please include Troy
Kunkle's prison number: #784)
Rissie Owens, Presiding Officer, Board of Pardons and Paroles,
1300 11th St., Suite 520, P.O. Box 599, Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
Fax: 1 936 291 8367, Salutation: Dear Ms Owens
Elvis Hightower, Board Member, Board of Pardons and Paroles,
1300 11th St., Suite 520, P.O. Box 599, Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
Fax: 1 936 291 8367, Salutation: Dear Mr Hightower
Charles Aycock, Board of Pardons and Paroles, 5809 S.
Western, Suite 237, Amarillo, TX 79110
Fax: 1 806 358 6455, Salutation: Dear Mr Aycock
Linda Garcia, Board of Pardons and Paroles, 1212 N. Velasco,
Suite 201, Angleton, TX 77515
Fax: 1 979 849 8741, Salutation: Dear Ms Garcia
Juanita Gonzalez, Board of Pardons and Paroles, 3408 S. State
Hwy. 36, Gatesville, TX 76528
Fax: 1 254 865 2629, Salutation: Dear Ms Gonzalez
Jose L. Aliseda, Board of Pardons and Paroles, 1111 West Lacy
St., Palestine, TX 75801
Fax: 1 903 723 1441, Salutation: Dear Mr Aliseda
Governor Rick Perry, Office of the Governor, PO Box 12428,
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849, Email via webpage:
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact#contactinfo
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
All appeals must arrive by 25 January 2005
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that
promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank
you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: u...@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
**************************
Hundreds of jurors report for Thomas trial's 1st day
More than 400 people reported for the 1st day of jury selection in Andre
Thomas' capital murder trial Monday.
Thomas faces capital murder charges in the stabbing deaths of his wife
Laura Christine (Boren) Thomas, their son Andre Lee Boren, and Mrs.
Thomas' daughter, Leyha Marie Hughes. Andre Thomas is represented by R.J.
Hagood and Bobbie Peterson.
Attorneys and court personnel traveled back and forth between the two
large courtrooms on the 2nd floor of the Grayson County Courthouse Monday
as they spoke with the potential jurors in the case. Judge James Fry
dismissed several people from the juror list after they sought exceptions
due to their health or educational commitments or personal obligations.
Fry then told the rest of the group that they would be required to
complete a 16-page questionnaire before they could leave Monday. Fry said
the jurors will then be questioned individually about their answers to
that questionnaire. That questioning, Fry said, will start next week.
Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown and First Assistant Grayson
County Attorney Kerye Ashmore and Thomas' attorneys will take a week to go
through the questionnaires before they start questioning individual
jurors. That questioning is expected to start next week and the attorneys
are expected to try to talk to seven potential witnesses a day.
Fry said jury selection could take up to six weeks and the trial could
start in middle or late February. The trial could take up to 3 weeks.
Potential jurors did get one break Monday. Grayson County Jury Coordinator
Martha Rhynes announced Monday morning that the city of Sherman would not
be enforcing the two-hour parking laws in downtown Sherman.
That announcement drew loud sighs of relief from the potential jurors.
Capt. Ken Francis at the Sherman Police Department said only 4 of the
people who received tickets for parking infractions in downtown Sherman
Monday will have to pay them.
"They parked in reserved parking places that people actually pay for,"
Francis said. He said those people will be advised that they need to pay
the tickets.
"The rest will be dismissed."
Francis said the Grayson County District Attorney's Office called the
Police Department to see about easing the parking restrictions because of
the large number of people who were expected for the jury pool.
(source: The Herald Democrat)
*********************
Teen held in homicide
A 17-year-old homicide suspect told investigators that he shot a
20-year-old man Monday during an argument that began because of the late
hour of a drug deal, police reported.
The east Fort Worth slaying was the city's first of 2005.
Charles Lauderdale was found dead about 12:30 a.m. in his apartment at the
French Quarter complex in the 4700 block of Norma Street.
Hours later, police arrested Elustus Sneed III. Sneed was in the Mansfield
Jail on Monday night with bail set at $25,000.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a witness told police that he
saw a man park a silver sport utility vehicle at the complex and knock on
Lauderdale's door. Seconds after the man went into the apartment, the
witness told police, he heard gunshots and soon saw the SUV drive away.
The witness gave police the SUV's license number, the affidavit states.
Later Monday morning, a gun was found in a black plastic bag in another
apartment complex's parking lot. While there, investigators found a silver
SUV that matched the witness's description.
The U.S. Marshal's task force began watching the SUV and later stopped
Sneed's mother when she was driving it.
Police made contact with Sneed, who told homicide Detectives Tom Boetcher
and Mike Carroll that he had gone to Lauderdale's apartment to buy
marijuana, the warrant affidavit states.
Sneed told detectives that Lauderdale, known to him as the "weed man," was
carrying a shotgun when he opened the door and was angry because it was
late. He and Lauderdale argued, Sneed said, but Lauderdale began to weigh
out a small bag of marijuana. Sneed decided he didn't want to buy anything
from Lauderdale because he didn't like the way he was being treated, the
detectives' affidavit states.
Sneed said he shot Lauderdale with a .22-caliber Ruger after Lauderdale
made a gesture as if he was reaching for his shotgun, the affidavit says.
"He has provided us with an account of what happened in the apartment, and
based on the evidence, we're still trying to determine the validity of his
account," homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said.
Fort Worth homicides: 2004
Fort Worth had 52 homicides last year, the fewest since the Police
Department began reporting annual crime statistics in 1966. Forty of the
52 homicides have been solved. Investigators also solved 22 cases from
previous years, including one from 1979.
Year Homicides
2004 52
2003 57
2002 53
2001 67
2000 61
1999 68
1998 64
1997 75
1996 68
1995 108
1994 132
(source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
CONNECTICUT:
How Can Doctors Take A Life, Even A Killer's?
Letters To The Editor:
As the time draws nearer to the scheduled execution date for convicted
killer Michael Ross, I felt compelled to rather urgently express my
viewpoint in the hope that the legislature will quickly take the
appropriate action.
As one whose close sibling was the victim of an unsolved crime of abuse
and murder, I think that further killing in the name of a lost loved one
does nothing to ease the grief or gain the illusory sense of "closure."
Society's indignation at such unwonted acts should not make us all
participants responsible for state-sanctioned actions deemed immoral by
all other civil societies. Religious leaders too, long since too
complacent on the matter, have finally weighed in on the side of death
penalty abolishment.
As a physician, I find it incomprehensible that members of my profession
would find it ethically acceptable to actively participate in these
activities, activities that could not take place without their personal
and direct involvement. I reject the notion that they are merely agents of
society and bear no personal responsibility for the taking of human life
that they are pledged to save and improve.
I call upon local legislators and other elected officials to examine this
issue quickly and sincerely. The governor has deferred to you and I ask
that you do what is best for your state and its constituents, regardless
of Mr. Ross' expressed wishes. Those wishes take a back seat to our
state's reputation and morality.
Dean Willis----East Lyme
(source: Letter to the Editor, The Day)
