August 18
TEXAS----new death sentence
Killer Espada is set to die
Death by lethal injection was the jury's decision late Wednesday for
convicted double murderer Noah Espada, the 21-year-old son of Christian
missionaries.
As the verdict was read, the clean-cut killer stood stoically, ramrod
straight beside his attorneys, but minutes later fought to hold back tears
as he turned to address his family and the relatives of his victims.
"Above all, I don't think words can express the meaning of the sorrow I
feel. I want you all to know, though, that no matter what happens, I won't
ever forget what I did. I won't ever look at myself in the same way,"
Espada said.
"As a matter of fact, I hate myself the way you hate me. I have no excuse.
I'm sorry," he added.
The jury of 6 women and 6 men took just 40 minutes on Aug. 9 to decide
Espada was guilty of capital murder in the 2004 murders of Sandra Ramos,
29, and Luther "Luke" Scott, 30.
Scott was the defendant's former boss at the popular River Walk nightclub
Polly Esther's Dance Plex.
In separate confessions unveiled during the trial, Espada admitted he
killed Scott out of revenge for having been fired 2 weeks beforehand, and
he stated he killed Ramos 2 days earlier when he broke into the wrong unit
of the Altamonte Apartments looking for Scott.
After each killing, Espada drove off with his victims' vehicles and other
possessions.
Throughout the 2-week-long proceedings, relatives of the victims cried in
anguish and some were openly hostile to the defendant, and some of that
anger was vented after 379th District Judge Bert Richardson formally
pronounced the sentence.
"I cannot tell you how much you have torn apart my family," said Scott's
mother, Alicia Scott-Abboud, of Annapolis, Md. "I just want you to know
that, today, you are here because of the decisions you made. You'll never
measure up to be half the man my son was."
Scott's stepfather, Lou Abboud, added, almost shouting: "You're going to
have plenty of time to think about the crime you committed, as a
cold-blooded murderer, as a coward, as a punk with a gun.
"You have taken a part of my life away from me and my wife and from the
Ramoses. You're not even worth a conversation."
Only Sandra Ramos' father, Julio, of Peach Tree City, Ga., had any words
approaching forgiveness.
"There is nothing I can say that will bring back my daughter or that will
bring back Luke. I am truly sorry for the suffering the Espada family will
go through in the years to come. I can only hope that, through their faith
and beliefs, they will come to have peace in their hearts," Ramos said.
Members of Espada's family began quietly weeping as the judge read the
jury verdict. Afterward, they declined all comment, but on their way out
of the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center, they stopped to offer words of sorrow
to the victims' families.
Jurors took 6 1/2 hours to reach their decision, and also declined public
comment after the trial recessed for good around 8:30 p.m.
The defendant had been scheduled to take the witness stand to plead for a
life sentence when trial resumed at 8:30 a.m., but he changed his mind
overnight and took the advice of his defense attorneys to let them plead
his case for him.
In their instructions from the judge, jurors were asked two key questions:
Whether Espada represents a future danger to society, and whether they
find there were any mitigating circumstances that are sufficient enough to
sentence him to life in prison.
All 12 jurors answered yes to the 1st question and no to the 2nd, giving
Richardson direction to sentence Espada to death.
"There is nothing that mitigates this crime - nothing," lead prosecutor
Kevin O'Connell said during the state's final summation before jurors
retired to deliberate shortly before lunch.
O'Connell painted a simple picture for jurors to consider on the question
of whether Espada represents a future danger to society.
He pointed to the fact Espada broke into the wrong apartment to kill Scott
and, instead, found Ramos, whom he suffocated by wrapping a plastic
garbage bag over her head. That was in the early morning hours of Feb. 29,
2004. 2 nights later, after scouting out Scott's apartment, he returned to
break in and shoot him three times in the neck and head.
"What if he had been caught after killing Sandra Ramos? He would have been
charged with capital murder. We know what would have happened then,"
O'Connell said.
Defense attorney Jeff Scott, no relation to Luke Scott, argued that jurors
must not rush to judgment, but instead should consider what would happen
if Espada were sentenced to death.
"As horrible, as horrible as it is to take a phone call from someone
telling you that your child has been murdered, can you imagine how
horrible it would be if you didn't need a phone call?" Scott asked.
Noah Espada's "parents will know the day, the date and the hour that their
child will die. If that's the road you take, is that going to lessen
anyone's suffering; the pain they will have for the rest of their lives?"
Bexar County juries have been reluctant to assess death penalties in
recent capital murder cases. In the past 12 months, when prosecutors have
sought the death penalty, juries have been granted it in only 1 out of 4
cases.
In March, a Bexar County jury sentenced 34-year-old Taichin Preyor to die
for the Feb. 26, 2004 robbery and stabbing death of Jami Tackett, 24,
inside her Southeast San Antonio apartment.
So far this year, Texas has executed 11 condemned capital murderers. Since
the advent of death by injection in 1982, Texas has executed 347.
***********************
6 men charged in smuggling death
6 men were indicted Wednesday on charges that an undocumented immigrant
died while being smuggled in Duval County en route to San Antonio.
The indictment by a federal grand jury in San Antonio upgraded charges
against Hipolito Hernandez Pea, suspected of being a smuggling cell
leader, and against Miguel Angel Rodriguez Leija, Sandro Cardenas Silva,
Ivan Rodriguez Ibarra, Alejandro Revilla Guevara and Jorge Alejandro
Ovalle Gallegos.
If convicted, the 6 face the possibility of the death penalty, the maximum
punishment for the charges of conspiracy to transport undocumented
immigrants resulting in death, and aiding and abetting in the smuggling of
undocumented immigrants resulting in death. The original charges allege
the smuggling of undocumented immigrants.
Juan de Dios Garcia Dimas, 23, of Mexico, was found dead by Border Patrol
agents along FM 2295 near Texas 16 south of Freer on July 13.
Court records say Garcia and Alonzo Vazquez of Honduras were among
immigrants guided by one of the defendants through the rural brush.
The pair were left behind as the rest were taken to a stash house in San
Antonio, court records said.
Garcia died and Vazquez was rescued.
(source for both: San Antonio Express-News)
************************
Executed man's lawyer seeks evidence
The attorney for a man executed in 2000 said Wednesday he wants to find
out if the rediscovered evidence in his client's case might have made a
difference. "I will get my files and take a look to see if it would have
made a difference," said Troy McKinney, who was the appeals attorney for
Ponchai Wilkerson. Wilkerson was executed in March 2000 for a jewelry
store robbery-murder. "It's too late for Ponchai. But his family wants to
know and is entitled to know."
Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt on Tuesday announced the discovery of
about 150 pieces of misplaced evidence, including items from three capital
murder cases, during a computerization of the department's property
storage procedures.
Hurtt said the missing evidence worries him, but officials are "working so
tirelessly" to prevent problems in the future.
"Because of the responsibility that we have, the authority that we have,
we can't afford to have this type of questioning about our processes," he
said.
The DNA section of the police department's crime lab has been closed since
late 2002 after an outside audit revealed serious deficiencies, including
a lack of training for workers and possible evidence contamination.
Since early 2003, the police department and the Harris County District
Attorney's Office have worked with outside DNA laboratories to review more
than 400 criminal cases involving DNA testing performed by the police lab.
So far, one man, Josiah Sutton, was released from jail based on retesting
in a rape case. Sutton was pardoned last year.
Another man, George Rodriguez, who was imprisoned for 17 years for
kidnapping and rape, was released when a judge recommended a new trial in
his case last year. The judge said inaccurate evidence may have led to his
1987 conviction.
In August 2004, police announced that lab evidence connected to 8,000
criminal cases, including 28 capital murder cases, had been mislabeled and
improperly stored.
Hurtt said of the 150 pieces of misplaced items announced Tuesday, police
found a car seat related to Wilkerson's case.
The car seat might have been evidence in a crime spree Wilkerson was
accused of taking part in during the time of the murder, McKinney said.
The crime spree was used against Wilkerson during his sentencing, but
there have been questions whether he took part in all these crimes, his
attorney said.
Police also found a cigarette butt collected during the investigation of a
1991 robbery-slaying of a Houston bank teller. Robert Campbell is on death
row for the murder.
Hurtt said he believes the evidence from the capital murder cases was
available at the time of their trials. The cigarette butt in the Campbell
case was not part of the evidence used in his conviction, he said.
McKinney said he was not aware of the car seat until Hurtt made his
announcement Tuesday.
Hurtt said the police department is still waiting for the City Council to
approve $1.6 million to pay for the next stage of an independent
investigation of the crime lab.
The probe currently is on hold because of the funding issue. Michael
Bromwich, a former inspector general with the U.S. Justice Department, was
hired to conduct the investigation.
"I applaud Chief Hurtt for pushing strongly for the remaining money for
the investigation," McKinney said. "Until HPD gets this behind them and
all the problems are fixed, there is good reason for everyone to question
the integrity of everything coming out of HPD."
(source : Associated Press)
*******************************
District Attorney May Help City Fund Crime Lab Investigation----Hurtt:
Officials Working Tirelessly To Prevent Future Problems
The Harris County District Attorney's Office may help Houston pay for some
of the increasing costs of an investigation of the police department's
crime lab.
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Wednesday he may use discretionary
funds, such as drug-seizure money, to jump start the stalled
investigation.
"I'd like to see it done just to get a resolution to this because I don't
feel like there's been the immediacy or the problem that's been painted by
y'all and the other media as to how bad things are," Rosenthal said. He
did not say how much his office would contribute.
The city has hired Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector
general, to conduct a 2-phase investigation of the police department's
crime lab and property room.
During the 1st phase of the probe, Bromwich found that 2 analysts in the
crime lab's controlled substances division had fabricated drug-test
results in at least 4 cases.
After discovering more problems, Bromwich told city officials the second
phase would cost more than the $2.2 million budgeted for the first year. A
$1 million balance remains of the city's initial budget, but Bromwich now
projects the total cost could reach $3.9 million.
City officials, however, have balked at the cost, putting the
investigation on hold for the past 6 weeks.
HPD Chief Concerned About Misplaced Evidence
The attorney for a man executed in 2000 said Wednesday he wants to find
out if the rediscovered evidence in his client's case might have made a
difference.
"I will get my files and take a look to see if it would have made a
difference," said Troy McKinney, who was the appeals attorney for Ponchai
Wilkerson. Wilkerson was executed in March 2000 for a jewelry store
robbery-murder. "It's too late for Ponchai. But his family wants to know
and is entitled to know."
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt on Tuesday announced the discovery of
about 150 pieces of misplaced evidence, including items from three capital
murder cases, during a computerization of the department's property
storage procedures.
Hurtt said the missing evidence worries him, but officials are "working so
tirelessly" to prevent problems in the future.
"Because of the responsibility that we have, the authority that we have,
we can't afford to have this type of questioning about our processes," he
said.
The DNA section of the police department's crime lab has been closed since
late 2002 after an outside audit revealed serious deficiencies, including
a lack of training for workers and possible evidence contamination.
Since early 2003, the police department and the Harris County District
Attorney's office have worked with outside DNA laboratories to review more
than 400 criminal cases involving DNA testing performed by the police lab.
So far, one man, Josiah Sutton, was released from jail based on retesting
in his rape case. Sutton was pardoned last year.
Another man, George Rodriguez, who was imprisoned for 17 years for
kidnapping and rape, was released when a judge recommended a new trial in
his case last year. The judge said inaccurate evidence may have led to his
1987 conviction.
In August 2004, police announced that lab evidence connected to 8,000
criminal cases, including 28 capital murder cases, had been mislabeled and
improperly stored.
Hurtt said of the 150 pieces of misplaced items announced Tuesday, police
found a car seat related to Wilkerson's case.
The car seat might have been evidence in a crime spree Wilkerson was
accused of taking part in during the time of the murder, McKinney said.
The crime spree was used against Wilkerson during his sentencing but there
have been questions whether he took part in all these crimes, his attorney
said.
Police also found a cigarette butt collected during the investigation of a
1991 robbery-slaying of a Houston bank teller. Robert Campbell is on death
row for the murder.
Hurtt said he believes the evidence from the capital murder cases was
available at the time of their trials. The cigarette butt in the Campbell
case was not part of the evidence used in his conviction, he said.
McKinney said he was not aware of the car seat until Hurtt made his
announcement on Tuesday.
Hurtt said the police department is still waiting for City Council to
approve $1.6 million to pay for the next stage of an independent
investigation of the crime lab.
The probe is currently on hold because of the funding issue. Michael
Bromwich, a former inspector general with the U.S. Justice Department, was
hired to conduct the investigation.
"I applaud Chief Hurtt for pushing strongly for the remaining money for
the investigation," McKinney said. "Until HPD gets this behind them and
all the problems are fixed, there is good reason for everyone to question
the integrity of everything coming out of HPD."
(source: The Associated Press)
**************************************
Murder in Baytown stuns community
Police officers are investigating the stabbing death of a donut shop
employee.
The Baytown Police Department is still investigating the death of Bonrith
In, an employee of Dina's Donuts, who was fatally stabbed Aug. 13 in an
attempted robbery around 4:40 a.m.
Police said an unidentified African-American male entered the business,
which had been opened approximately 10 minutes earlier. Police report the
black male displayed a knife and an unknown type of handgun.
Police said when In presented him with $20, the perpetrator became enraged
and demanded more money from the owner. An altercation took place between
the men, resulting in In receiving multiple stab wounds and blunt trauma
to his head.
Baytown EMS responded to the scene but In was pronounced dead at the scene
on the 3700 block of West Baker Road.
Police were told by the building owner, Jin Hak Kim, that the In family
also owned dry cleaning and laundromat business at the shopping center.
The donut store has continued to be closed since the murder but an
assortment of bouquets and candles have been placed outside the store's
main entrance as a reminder of what occurred. Well wishers have also been
given an opportunity to write prayers and their thoughts on the storefront
windows.
Police said In was stabbed multiple times by a man who is being described
to police as a black man, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about
160 lbs.
Police said at the time of the alleged crime, the suspect was wearing a
royal blue nylon cap, commonly known as a "skull" cap. He was also wearing
a blue pullover T-shirt with a darker, long sleeved button-down blue shirt
over the T-shirt. He also was also described to be wearing past the knee
length royal blue shorts.
A Spanish-speaking woman, who just wanted to be identified as "Hilda,"
said she lives in a nearby apartment complex and was shocked by the turn
of events as she attempted to purchase some pastries three days after the
tragedy.
"How can someone do this," she asked. "I came to this country (from
Argentina) , maybe also like (In) to fulfill our dreams and this happens.
It's not fair."
Police said that In's wife witnessed the incident and claims the suspect
was a frequent customer of the business. The male is reported to be in his
late teens or early 20s and was clean shaven. Police have released a
composite of the man.
Police said if the suspect is caught, he could face capital murder charges
and could could face life sentence or possibly the death penalty if
convicted.
In's wake is scheduled Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. at Earthman's Resthaven Chapel
and Cemetery, located at 13102 North Freeway in Houston. His funeral will
be held at 3 p.m. the next day from the same location.
Police urge anyone with information about the crime to call Crime Stoppers
at 281-427-TIPS.
(source: Lake Houston Sentinel)
*********************************
Higgins killer awaits punishment
The punishment phase of the trial of a Houston man found guilty last week
of the 2002 capital murder of a Pearland woman has been under way this
week in a Harris County Courtroom.
A jury took just 4 hours 2 weeks ago to convict Lamar Baskin, 45, of the
robbery and murder of Laura Powell Higgins, 28.
Baskin faces either life in prison or the death penalty for the Dec. 19,
2002 robbery and murder Higgins, an interior decorator for Perry Homes.
Prosecutors argue that Baskin, who has a 27-year criminal history, is a
future threat to society and should be given the death penalty. Defense
attorneys argue that Baskin is not eligible for the death penalty because
he suffers from mental retardation, citing his low IQ scores.
Prosecutors counter that argument with the fact that Baskin received his
GED while in prison and has run his own business in the past. Higgins
stopped by the Perry Home's warehouse near Hobby Airport on her way to
pick up her 20-month-old daughter from a daycare center.
Later that evening, Higgins family received a call from the daycare that
she never arrived to pick up the child.
Distraught family members searched for the mother who they said would
never have left her daughter at the daycare.
Higgins car was found outside the warehouse in the Hobby Business Park,
7999 Hansen. Police said she was discovered lying face down inside a
storeroom of the warehouse. She had been shot once in the shoulder. Police
said it appeared that Baskin followed Higgins into the business, shot her
in the back and robbed her.
Higgins' purse was recovered several days after the murder behind a store
on Telephone Road, police said.
When charged in June of 2004 with Higgins' murder, Baskin was already in
the Harris County Jail. Police said he had been there since being arrested
shortly after Higgins' murder on an unrelated robbery.
At that time, Houston Police said Higgins was 1 of 5 people shot by Baskin
in a crime spree that ended shortly after Higgins' murder.
Homicide investigators said ballistics evidence collected in the Higgins
case, one other capital murder case and three robbery/shooting cases, all
of which occurred during a two-week stretch in December 2002, tie Baskin
to those crimes.
Police said Baskin was also connected by DNA evidence to 3 sexual
assaults.
It appears that Higgins was the final victim of the crime spree, which
appeared to end because of his arrest on the unrelated robbery. Baskin was
out on parole at the time of the crime spree.
Higgins is survived by her husband, Darrell, and daughter, Sydney, now 4.
Higgins, the daughter of Roy and Margie Powell, grew up in Alvin. She
graduated from Alvin High School and attended both Alvin and Houston
community colleges and the University of Houston.
(source: The Citizen)
**************************
DA may help fund probe into crime lab----Rosenthal says inquiry should
wrap up; others say he playing down problems
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Wednesday that his
office may chip in to help solve a financial impasse that has stalled the
investigation into problems at the Houston Police Department's crime
laboratory and property room.
Although he would not say how much money he is offering, Rosenthal said
Wednesday that he has contacted city officials about the possibility of
using discretionary funds - such as drug-seizure money - to help
underwrite the HPD probe.
Rosenthal acknowledged that he has a "selfish" motive for wanting to get
the crime-lab investigation back on track: "I'd like to see it done just
to get a resolution to this because I don't feel like there's been the
immediacy or the problem that's been painted by y'all and the other media
as to how bad things are."
To Houston defense lawyer Troy McKinney, Rosenthal's remarks are
indicative of the overall crime-lab problem.
"They continue to take the attitude that any problems are isolated, and
only anecdotal, even though there is a tremendous quantity of evidence
that the problems are pervasive and continue," McKinney said.
For the past 2 1/2 years, the HPD evidence analysis and storage divisions
have been embroiled in a continuing saga of problems that began with the
discovery of flawed work in the department's DNA lab. Bad science,
decaying facilities and poorly trained analysts led to the closure of the
lab in December 2002. Subsequently, 2 men have been released from prison
because of flawed testing, and the integrity of thousands of cases has
been questioned.
Troubles surface
Earlier this year, the city of Houston hired Michael Bromwich, a former
Justice Department inspector general, to conduct a 2-phase probe of the
crime lab and property room. During the first phase of his investigation,
Bromwich found that two analysts in the crime lab's controlled substances
division had fabricated drug-test results in at least 4 cases.
After discovering deeper problems than expected, Brom-wich notified city
officials that the second phase of the investigation would cost more than
the $2.2 million originally budgeted for the 1st year. As of this week, $1
million of the original allocation remains.
Bromwich now projects the total cost of the probe could run as high as
$3.9 million. That is not much more than the nearly $3.2 million estimated
by the city in its original request for project proposals.
City officials, however, have balked at the cost, putting the
investigation on hold for the past 6 weeks.
"Although I believe that Chief (Harold) Hurtt remains committed to our
work, I have no doubt that some people would like to stop the
investigation in its tracks because of the fear of additional
disclosures," Bromwich said via e-mail to the Houston Chronicle on
Wednesday. " I'm certainly hopeful that this very unfortunate, misleading
and time-consuming fuss about the cost won't have that result."
At a media briefing Wednesday, Hurtt said he is committed to finding a
solution acceptable to both the city and Bromwich.
Bar-coding process
Meanwhile Wednesday, the District Attorney's Office maintained that the
defense was informed of all evidence collected in three capital murder
cases in which previously misplaced items were recently discovered in
HPD's property room - the most recent revelation about missing evidence at
the storage facility.
On Tuesday, Hurtt announced that during the process of bar-coding all
evidence stored in the property room, about 150 previously unlogged items
had been uncovered. Among those items was evidence from 3 death-penalty
cases, including one in which the defendant already has been executed.
The announcement prompted attorneys for 2 of the convicted killers to say
they were not sure they were informed of the relocated evidence at the
time of trial.
In the case of death row inmate Robert Campbell, police discovered a
cigarette butt that could possibly yield DNA evidence.
Defense attorney Lonnie Knowles said he had no recollection of any
cigarette-butt evidence during the trial.
However, Assistant District Attorney Jack Roady said Wednesday that both
of Campbell's defense lawyers - Wayne Hill and Knowles - signed affidavits
at the time of the trial stating they reviewed the files.
"So, they should have seen it," said Roady.
In 2001, Campbell's appellate attorney, Justin Waggoner, filed a motion to
have all of the evidence in the case tested for DNA. On Tuesday, Hurtt
said the cigarette butt recently located had never been submitted for
testing.
But Roady also produced a court document indicating a number of items in
the case, including several cigarette butts, were eventually tested.
Waggoner said the document doesn't prove that the newly found evidence was
ever submitted for testing - only that it was separated from the rest of
the evidence.
Little confidence in files
Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hardaway said case records indicate that
defense attorneys for death row inmate Warren Rivers were given access to
the prosecution file. Similarly, in the case of Ponchai Wilkerson, who was
executed in 2000, Hardaway said lead prosecutor Roberto Gutierrez assured
her that the defense reviewed the DA's file.
McKinney, who represented Wilkerson on appeal, said he has little
confidence in the district attorney's so-called open-file policy.
"At this point I get no comfort from that," said McKinney, a former
president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.
"That's their whole pitch with the crime lab - that the defense got to see
their file, and that's all they've got. But they don't seem to get
sometimes that they are responsible for more than just what's in their
files. They are responsible for affirmatively seeking out whatever
evidence may be out there that is inconsistent with the defendant's
guilt."
(source: Houston Chroniclce)
********************
Mayor won't be drawn into death penalty debate
Houston Mayor Bill White said Wednesday that he will not get into the
debate over whether there should be a moratorium on the death penalty.
His statement comes just one day after police chief Harold Hurtt, revealed
hundreds of pieces of evidence had been located and catalogued in the
department's property room.
The evidence was from cases that dated back years and had never been
introduced at trial. It included evidence for three capital murder cases.
"There are a lot of voices in this community on this issue," says White,
"reacting or over reacting."
Mayor White went on to say he applauds Chief Harold Hurtt's initiative to
look into these capital murder cases.
(source: KHOU News)
**********************
'Stop the execution of Frances Newton!'
The mobilization to stop the execution of Frances Newton is in high gear
and growing by the day. Her execution is set for 6 p.m. on Sept. 14.
Frances Newton would be the first African American woman executed in the
state of Texas in over 100 years. Although Texas leads the country with
346 of the 979 executions since 1976, Texas has executed only 2 other
women: Karla Faye Tucker and Betty Lou Beets.
Houston is Newtons hometown. Her family still lives in the Acres Home
neighborhood where she grew up. All over the city people are organizing.
They are signing postcards to the governor to stop the execution.
DVDs of Frances Newton speaking are being shown at churches and mosques
and on university campuses. E-mail appeals are going out around the world.
Houstons Pacifica radio station is putting out urgent appeals for Newtons
life as public service announcements and as part of their programs.
Newton's supporters will gather in Austin, the state capital, on Aug. 27,
for a march to demand the execution be stopped. Demonstrators will march
to the governors mansion and encircle it with yellow crime scene tape. The
committee will put Gov. Rick Perry on notice that if he allows the
execution to proceed, he will indeed be guilty of a crime: killing an
innocent person.
On Labor Day weekend, the Committee to Free Frances Newton will do
outreach and visibility at a Houston festival that celebrates, promotes
and preserves the history and culture of the African American Sunnyside
community. Organizers expect more than 20,000 to attend.
On Sept. 7, the Committee to Free Frances Newton and the Campaign to End
the Death Penalty will co-sponsor a forum at the University of Texas in
Austin on women and the death penalty. Newtons mother, Jewel Nelms, will
be the featured speaker.
Let the facts be heard!
The Houston district attorney says Newton murdered her husband and two
children in 1987 for insurance money. The Texas Innocence Network, whose
attorneys representing her, say that she is innocent, and that there is no
physical evidence, no motive and no time when she could have killed her
family.
Her current appeal also stresses that she would not be on death row today
if not for her court-appointed, totally incompetent attorney, Ron Mock.
Mocks representation of Shaka Sankofa in his 1981 trial is one reason
Sankofa was executed by Texas and then-Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.
The facts have never been presented before a court of law.
The evidence showed that Newtons husband was shot at point-blank range in
his temple. His blood and brains spewed out onto the killer, who left
drops of blood on the carpet into the childrens room where they were shot.
Yet Frances Newton had no blood on her body, her clothing, her car or on
anything she possessed. The police admit there was no cleanup done in the
apartment. They also admit that they tested Newtons hands shortly after
the murders and that the test showed she had not fired a gun.
The police say there were nitrites from gunpowder at the bottom of the
long skirt she was wearing. Yet no traces were found on her hands, sleeves
or sweater. That means she would have had to bend over and shoot from
ankle height. The test used to determine the presence of nitrites did not
determine whether they were from gunpowder. Nitrites can also come from
fertilizer. On the day of the murders, Newton had picked up her daughter
at her uncles house where they had been working in the garden.
Earlier this year, when the current attorneys requested that the court
allow testing of the skirt to find the source of the nitrites, the request
was denied because the states previous test had destroyed the nitrite
evidence. Also, the now-discredited Houston Police Crime Lab stored her
skirt with her murdered familys clothing, thus cross-contaminating all the
evidence.
How you can help
Frances Newton recently told a Dutch journalist: "It's been very
difficult, but knowing that I am innocent, it gives me hope and it gives
me courage to fight and believe that the truth will come out. I've been
discouraged by the court system and the low standard they hold attorneys
to. So to say that I have hope in the court system itself, no I can't say
that."
Organizer Njeri Shakur says: "We agree with Frances that the court system
does not deserve our faith. But what the committee has faith in is the
power to make changes through struggle and unity. As Shaka Sankofa,
executed in Texas on June 22, 2000, said: The odds and the dangers we face
in the struggle are great. But even greater is the power of the people.'"
Support letters can be sent to: Frances Newton, #922, Mountain View Unit,
2305 Ransom Road, Gatesville, TX 76528. Check out the website
www.freefrances.org to order DVDs of Frances Newton speaking, and to send
postcards or e-mail the Texas governor from this site. You can also
contact Gov. Rick Perry at Office of the Governor, PO Box 12428, Austin,
TX 78711-2428, Phone: (512) 463-2000, Fax: (512) 463-1849.
(source: Gloria Rubac, Workers World)
