March 16 TEXAS: PRESS RELEASE from ANTI-DEATH PENALTY ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK IN AUSTIN STUDENTS APPLAUD GOVERNOR'S ACTION Planned Protest at Governor's Mansion Becomes Celebration WHO: Students from across Texas WHAT: Celebration of Governor's action on Death Penalty WHEN: THIS EVENING AT 5:30 PM WHERE: LAVACA STREET SIDE OF TEXAS GOVERNOR'S MANSION High School and college Students from all over Texas and other states will be gathered at the Governor's Mansion at 5:30 today to support Governor Perry's call for the creation of a Criminal Justice Advisory Council to study issues related to Texas' Death Penalty laws. The students had planned to protest the execution of Pablo Melendez, however, with that execution stayed, the protest has turned into a victory celebration. "Yesterday Governor Perry finally agreed with us that the system is not perfect and that we shouldn't be afraid to ask questions and make changes that will lead to the creation of a more fair and accurate legal system," said Gaby Hernandez, a spokesperson for the group. The students and other activists have been participating in a weeklong Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break sponsored by the Texas Moratorium Network. Instead of going to the beach, they have been spending their break engaged in workshops and coordinating direct actions against the death penalty. "We were planning to protest an execution today," said Hernandez, "but today at the Governor's Mansion we will applaud the Governor's action, and celebrate the fact that the people of Texas will not be killing anyone this evening." ********************** For Immediate Release: We struggle on despite the heartache and tears, despite the suffering and our fears. We struggle on even when doubt can be deceiving, even through depression just keep believing. We struggle on through winter storms, through summer heat, so keep on keeping on and we'll never know defeat. -Nanon Williams ** March 7, 2005 Dear Friends & Supporters, In a 5-4 decision on March 1, 2005, the United States Supreme Court banned the execution of juveniles who committed crimes at the age of 16 or 17 years old. I heard the news as I prepared for a visit. When I heard the news, I immediately hollered at a few guys, especially a few of the juveniles whose lives literally hung in the balance. Technically, some no longer had any pending appeals. I gave them the news with a smile. Shouts started to ring from cellblock to cellblock. It became quiet shortly after many tuned into their radio for confirmation, some contemplated their own fate, while some found hope that change is coming. It was news that was bittersweet. Some of the juveniles sighed with relief, yet refrained from openly expressing their joy. Although twenty-eight juveniles here on Texas death row would feel comfortable facing tomorrow, we all recognize that everyone else around us still faced death. I immediately felt out-of-place. My neighbors congratulated me as if I had won a prize, but I didn't feel that way. I don't want to minimize the ruling. It is a victory toward this country evolving towards international standards of decency, morality, and towards a growing sense of humanity. I am still not certain on how I feel. I have been on death row for almost half of my life. At 30 years old, I am the oldest amongst the juveniles from Harris County, the death penalty capital of the world. The chaos of living life on death row is all I've known for so many years. While my friends graduated high school, attended their prom, went to college, and perhaps now have families of their own, I have tried as best as I could to reach beyond the shackles, steel, concrete and chaos to give a meaning to life. Over 70 juveniles lives will be spared and given a second chance, a chance to look forward to the future. Many may still live in the same solitary-like conditions for 23 hours a day but there will always be hope that tomorrow brings something new. Many have become grown men, and will grow into old men behind bars. I was escorted to the visitation room and I sat in front of my visitors. It had been quite awhile since I last saw the both of them. When I gave the news to my mother, she started to cry. Although everyone had been expecting a ruling soon, each day pushed the thought away. The years of trying to spend as many moments with me as best she could while praying, hoping, and fighting suddenly drained her. Then, a radiant smile appeared on both their faces, while I stared on. I picked up my bible after I was escorted back to my cell. I often times wondered how a positive ruling would affect my appeals? I wondered would they continue? I see no victory for myself in going from one cage to another cage. With a life sentence, I would have to spend another 35 years in prison before I would even be considered for parole. The thought of so many more years in prison for a crime I did not commit is still a slow death to me. Eventually I will be moved off death row, but when I don't know. I know longer will have the death number of 9-9-9-1-6-3 but will be replaced with another prisoner identification number. Although I will be thrust among the general population prisoners, I would still see the faces of the men I know here, the men who I have watched be led to the death chamber. There have been close to a thousand U.S. executions but Texas alone has executed over 300 people. Although the abolishment of the juvenile death penalty is a triumph, the war still remains. We only won a battle. Thousands still remain on death row across this nation, so the fight goes on. To my friends and supporters, my fight for justice and freedom will continue!!! I will continue to fight to have a life without looking past the steel and concrete. I will continue to write articles, books, newsletters, and do the things that enriches life. I will pick up the torch to fight for what is right, just as so many have picked up the torch to fight for me, for us, for a better world. I will continue. We must continue! As long as I never accept defeat, victory always remains in my sight. The love you have given me has become my eyes, in mind, body, and spirit. The Struggle Continues, Nanon M. Williams (source: Nanon Williams, death row, Texas) ********************* Texas juries need 3rd option: life without parole Texas needs a 3rd option when dealing with capital crimes: life without parole. If legislators lacked incentive to give Texas juries the option of assessing life without parole sentences in the past, they now have plenty with the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court banning states from executing juvenile killers. Senate Bill 60 would establish a life term without parole. We urge senators meeting today to consider the bill to pass it out of committee. Death penalty proponents lobbied successfully to quash such legislation in the past. They believe it would weaken the state's death penalty system - the busiest in the nation. As it stands, Texas jurors now have just 2 sentencing options in capital crime cases: execution or life in prison, which actually means a minimum of 40 years. After 40 years of a life sentence, a convict is eligible for parole. We have long argued that the death penalty is wrong because of the potential of executing an innocent person. Moreover, the deck is stacked against poor defendants. We've also complained mightily about the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which has acted as a rubber stamp for prosecutors. The Texas appeals court didn't think it was a problem for a defense lawyer to sleep through portions of his client's capital murder trial. Even so, it's understandable how jurors might opt for the death penalty over a life sentence given the current sentencing choices. The possibility of parole, however small, could mean that a violent criminal might one day be set free. The death penalty ensures that a criminal won't be free again. Life without parole would accomplish the same goal. Momentum is building for the life without parole option, says the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court left Texas with only one option in dealing with minors who commit capital crimes: Life with the possibility of parole. Thankfully, Texas no longer will be able to sentence 17-year-olds to death, but the state should have the option of putting them in prison for life without parole. Lucio's bill would not eliminate the death penalty for adults. For years, the state has needed a 3rd option for dealing with people who commit capital crimes. Texas and New Mexico are the only death penalty states that don't offer jurors the option of sentencing criminals to life without parole. The Legislature can and should change that. (source: Editorial, Austin American-Statesman) **************************** Lingo-Perkins murder trial underway in Rusk Kevin McElroy watched silently Monday as 14 jurors - a jury of 12 plus 2 alternates - were chosen from 100 Cherokee County citizens - the 1st step toward resolution of a five-year-old pain for the McElroy family. Monday was the first and only day of jury selection for the capital murder trial against Desiree Dawn Lingo-Perkins - the last of 4 people accused of the murder of Kevin McElroy's son, Kyle. The trial was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning in the district courtroom at the county courthouse in Rusk. District Clerk Marlys Mason said 400 had been called for the selection process. Although Lingo-Perkins is charged with capital murder - an offense punishable by the death penalty - the death penalty is not being sought. If Lingo-Perkins is found guilty and sentenced to capital murder-life, she will not be eligible for parole for 40 years. Lingo-Perkins was captured Oct. 7, 2004, in Laredo when she was apprehended through a cooperative effort between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement. Kyle McElroy was kidnapped on March 10, 2000, and, according to staff reports from the time of the incident, was last seen at about 1 a.m. that morning when he left McElroy Plastics, Kevin's company, in Troup. In a videotaped confession, Ernesto Baylon, convicted of Kyle McElroy's murder, claimed Kyle McElroy drove to a location in New Summerfield early the day of the incident. Baylon said he and 2 other men - Daniel Rios and Alfredo Ramero - bound Kyle McElroy's hands, feet and mouth with duct tape, then pressed a police-type baton to his throat until he stopped breathing. Shortly after his disappearance, Kevin McElroy received a demand for ransom in return for his son's safe return - a demand he reported to the FBI. Some of the ransom demands were made via telephone calls by a woman, believed to be Lingo-Perkins. The FBI later released an audio-recording of one of the calls on the hopes someone could identify her by her voice. Rios, the first of the three to be apprehended, was arrested at an arranged drop site at which McElroy's father was to leave ransom money. Less than 36 hours after his disappearance, Kyle McElroy's body was discovered behind an abandoned house outside New Summerfield. Lingo-Perkins fled the area when the first arrests for the murder were made. Judge Bascom W. Bentley III of the 369th District Court will preside over the trial; Assistant District Attorney Dave Sorrell will lead the prosecution, and Jacksonville attorney Craig Fletcher was appointed to defend Lingo-Perkins. (source: Jacksonville Daily Progress) ********************* Trailer-deaths juror accused of obscenity A woman claims a juror in the trial of a New York man who could be executed for his role in the deaths of 19 undocumented immigrants made an obscene gesture to her as she protested the death penalty in front of the federal courthouse Tuesday. Amelia Perez and 2 other immigrant activists who were with her said they described what happened to defense attorneys, prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore, who is presiding over the trial. Gilmore did not discuss the incident in open court Tuesday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment because of a gag order in the case. Prosecutors say the defendant, Tyrone Williams, ignored the screams for help of more than 70 immigrants whom he was transporting from South Texas in his tractor-trailer in May 2003; 19 people died. Testimony in the trial continued Tuesday and was to resume today. Perez, 41, said she and the 2 other activists were standing in front of the courthouse Tuesday morning holding anti-death penalty signs when 2 men and a woman walked past. One of the men angrily raised his arm up, bent it toward him and then hit his biceps with his other hand as he passed by, Perez said. "Other people have made the same gestures. But we have not paid attention to it," she said. "But when we entered the courtroom and saw it was one of the jurors, we became concerned." (source: Associated Press) ALABAMA: Canary in a coal mine It's a good thing Birmingham News editorial writers don't work for Alabama's prison system. We might be placed on leave. Obviously, a little explanation is in order: Donaldson Correctional Facility Warden Stephen Bullard sent a memo warning of "catastrophic circumstances" at the prison just a few days before being put on mandatory leave. "I am concerned that it is going to take a lawsuit, riot, death or serious injury for anyone to take this crisis seriously," Bullard wrote in the March 1 memo to his boss, Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell. "I am of the opinion that the staff at Donaldson has been asked, no ordered, to endure what equates to nothing more than taking advantage and abuse of dedicated employees," Bullard wrote. Donaldson, with space for 1,000 prisoners, houses 1,625, many of whom are mentally ill and some on death row. The crowding has overloaded the prison's sewage system. Corrections officers have been forced to work as much as 32 hours of overtime per week, the warden wrote. Some officers are refusing to work mandatory overtime, routinely obtaining doctors' excuses restricting their work hours. If an employee is injured or sues for harassment or unfair employment practices, "the department would have no legal standing to defend these charges," Bullard wrote. March 4, Bullard was notified that Campbell had placed him on a mandatory 10-business-day leave. Tuesday, Campbell said he placed Bullard on leave because of health concerns, which Bullard mentioned in his memo. But Mac McArthur, executive director of the Alabama State Employees Association, which is representing the warden, called the leave "a classic case of shooting the messenger." Let's hope Bullard's leave has nothing whatsoever to do with speaking the truth about problems at Donaldson, specifically, and the prison system, generally. This editorial page for years has written of problems in Alabama prisons, such as overcrowding, understaffing and dangerous work conditions. Campbell, himself, has acknowledged the problems, although not in such strong language as Bullard's memo. It shouldn't take a lawsuit, riot or deaths or injuries to get officials' attention on prisons. But if it does, they can't say they weren't warned. (source: Opinion, Birmingham News) NEBRASKA: Former Death Row Inmate Sues Because He Can't Get Jobs -- Sheets' Conviction Was Overturned In 2001 A former death-row inmate now living in Denver wants the city of Omaha to seal or turn over his police records, saying his job options are limited because of his murder conviction. Attorney J. William Gallup filed a suit Tuesday on behalf of Jeremy Sheets in Douglas County District Court. The city and Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren are named as defendants. Gallup said that when he last spoke to Sheets, he was working as a mortgage broker. Gallup did not know what his current job status was. "He would at least like the opportunity to apply for other work if necessary. It's only fair," said Gallup, who is based in Omaha. Sheets, 30, spent three years on death row before a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling freed him in 2001. He had been convicted for the 1992 murder of Kenyatta Bush, a 17-year-old Omaha honor student. Police had no leads until 1996, when Sheets' name turned up as a suspect. He was convicted in 1997. Sheets is requesting that he either receive or officials seal a number of records related to his arrest, including fingerprint cards, mug shots and bank records. Sheets has given potential employers copies of the dismissal papers, Gallup said, but they are still reluctant to hire him. "When somebody hears you're convicted of murder, that's a pretty strong deterrent to employment," Gallup said. The city would not comment until first reviewing the lawsuit, said Tom Mumgaard, deputy city attorney. Mumgaard said that such a suit is rare, especially coming from someone whose conviction had been reversed. In 2003, Sheets sued Omaha police, alleging that they framed him for the murder. That suit was dismissed. (source : The Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Judge Sentences Scott Peterson to Die A judge today imposed the death penalty against Scott Peterson for killing his pregnant wife, who disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002 and washed ashore 4 months later. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Alfred A. Delucchi called the crimes "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous." Peterson, 32, was convicted on two counts of murder in November in the deaths of Laci Peterson and the fetus she carried. The jurors then voted for death by lethal injection, a decision Delucchi could have reduced to life in prison without parole. He followed the jury's decision after hearing from about half a dozen of Laci Peterson's relatives. Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, was among them, addressing Peterson: "You planned and executed the murders. You decided to throw Laci and Conner away, to dispose of them as if they were just a piece of garbage. Your arrogance led you to believe that you were more intelligent than anyone else. You were dead wrong. You're stupid, you're stupid to believe you could get away with murder." She also called him "selfish" and a "baby killer." The judge also rejected Peterson's attorneys request for a new trial. Peterson still can appeal to a higher court. Some of the jurors talked to reporters outside the court after sentencing. One of them said closure would come for them only when they died. They began the trial, he said, presuming Peterson's innocence. He said he thought, "What's this poor kid doing here? Well, we found out what he was doing there, didn't we?" Another juror said Peterson's facial expression was the same as it was for the last 7 months. Asked what that was, she demurred: "You don't want me to say." She noted that the Petersons and the Rochas lost children. "It was very hard today. Facing death row, that's not easy." A photo of Laci Peterson, dressed in Christmas red and sitting, smiling broadly with her hands crossed over her bulging belly, became well known and was one of the last images jurors saw before voting for the death penalty. Their alternative was life in prison for the handsome fertilizer salesman who sat expressionless through much of the trial - a trial that included testimony about Peterson's good works as well as statements from Amber Frey, who said Peterson repeatedly lied to her during their affair. Peterson did not testify, and he did not speak today. Prosecutors had argued that a future as a suburban father had haunted Peterson. In 2002, Peterson and Frey began a relationship and, prosecutors said, Peterson began plotting to kill his wife. Peterson will be housed on death row at San Quentin State Prison, which overlooks the bay where Laci Peterson's body was found. It could be decades before Peterson would be put to death. In the 26 years since California reinstated capital punishment, the state has carried out 10 executions. (source: Los Angeles Times) *********************** Judge: Death Penalty for Peterson The judge in the Scott Peterson trial has said he will sentence Peterson to death by lethal injection for killing his wife, Laci Peterson, and dumping her body in a bay. She was 6 months pregnant at the time. The judge was in agreement with the jury, which also recommended the death penalty. The average appeals process in California death penalty cases is 18 years. Peterson will join roughly 640 inmates who sit on death row. The judge denied a defense request for a new trial Wednesday, clearing the way for him to be sentenced to death or life in prison for the slaying of his wife and her fetus. Peterson, shackled at the waist and wearing a dark suit, was escorted into court under heavy security Wednesday as he awaited Judge Alfred A. Delucchi's decision. 10 of the 12 jurors who recommended that he be sentenced to death sat in the jury box. Hours before the hearing began, Peterson's former mistress, star witness Amber Frey, said she stood by her decision to turn to police. Peterson's lawyer is challenging the use of telephone conversations she recorded for the trial. In asking for a new trial, defense lawyer Mark Geragos said Peterson's telephone calls to Frey should not have been admitted. He said Peterson never implicated himself in the crime during the calls and that authorities should not have tapped his phone. Geragos also said prosecutors withheld evidence that a state prison inmate claimed he heard that Laci Peterson had interrupted a burglary at a neighbor's home in Modesto on Dec. 24, 2002, the day she was reported missing. (source: WISH TV News)
