URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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23 August 2005
UA 217/05 Death Penalty/ Legal concern
USA /Texas: Frances Elaine Newton (f), black
Frances Newton is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 14
September 2005. She was convicted in October 1988 of the
murder of her husband and two children in April 1987. She was
convicted on circumstantial evidence and maintains that she did
not commit the murder.
Frances Newton's attorneys have filed a motion for a stay of
execution. They claim that evidence used to convict her, which
could potentially prove her innocence, was destroyed by the
state; that at her trial, prosecutors improperly withheld
information; and that she had ineffective legal assistance during
her trial from a lawyer who failed to investigate fully her claims
of innocence. She had been due to be executed on 1 December
2004, but was granted a 120-day reprieve by Texas Governor
Rick Perry, to allow time for the retesting of the physical
evidence used to convict her (see UA 313/04, AMR
51/163/2004, 19 November 2004, and follow-up).
On 7 April 1987, a police officer responding to a report of a
possible shooting in a Houston apartment complex found 21-
year-old Frances Newton in her apartment with her cousin,
Sondra Nelms. Also in the apartment were the bodies of Frances
Newton's husband, Adrian Newton, her seven-year-old son,
Alton, and 21-month-old daughter, Farrah. All three victims had
been shot.
At the trial, Sondra Nelms testified that on the night of the
shootings Frances Newton had placed a bag in another house
shortly before the two of them went to the Newtons' apartment
where they found the bodies. The bag was later found to contain
a gun, and testimony at the trial indicated that it was the murder
weapon. An expert testified that the lower front part of Frances
Newton's skirt contained nitrites, consistent with a gun having
been fired close to it. However, forensic experts testified that the
nitrites found on Frances Newton's skirt could have come from
fertilizer. During the day of the murder, Farrah Newton had
stayed with her uncle while her mother was at work. The uncle
had a large garden, which could account for the transfer of
fertilizer particles to the lower front side of Frances Newton's
skirt. One of the jurors subsequently stated that, had it been
determined that the nitrites on the skirt came from fertilizer, she
would have found it important in her deliberations as a fact
supporting Newton's innocence. The juror's statement was
included in the successful motion for a stay of Frances Newton's
execution in December 2004.
The reprieve granted in December 2004 was designed to allow
sufficient time for the retesting of her skirt and of the gun
thought to be the murder weapon. However, when Frances
Newton's current attorneys petitioned the courts to allow
retesting of her skirt earlier this year, the request was denied
because the state's initial tests had destroyed the nitrite evidence
on the skirt, and the skirt had also become cross-contaminated
after it was stored with the victims' clothing. Retesting of the
gun found it to be the murder weapon. However, in their latest
appeal, Frances Newton's lawyers claim that trial prosecutors
withheld information relating to the discovery of a second gun at
the crime scene which may have been the murder weapon.
Frances Newton was prosecuted in Harris County, where the city
of Houston is located. In March 2003, an independent audit of
the Houston Police Department (HPD) crime laboratory revealed
serious defects in the lab's DNA analysis section, including
poorly trained staff relying on outdated scientific techniques.
Several cases suggest that the laboratory's problems extended
beyond its DNA section, for example into its ballistics expertise.
On 21 October 2004, a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals said that there should be ''a moratorium on all
executions in cases where convictions were based on evidence
from the HPD crime lab until the reliability of the evidence has
been verified''. A Texas Senator and the Houston police chief
have made similar calls. An independent investigation of the
laboratory is in progress.
Testimony of the state's trial witnesses, taken together, suggests
that either Frances Newton was not in the apartment at the time
of the shooting, or that if she was she would have had, at most,
20 minutes to shoot her husband and children, clean herself up,
compose herself, and leave the apartment to go to her cousin's
home. There was no blood found on Frances Newton's clothing,
hands, or car, despite the fact that the victims had been shot at
close range. No gunpowder residue was found on her hands or
sweater. There was also no evidence that someone had cleaned
up the apartment.
Amnesty International opposes all executions, regardless of
issues of guilt or innocence. One of the most compelling
arguments against the use of the death penalty is the risk that
innocent people may be executed. The United Nations
Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those
Facing the Death Penalty prohibit the execution of anyone whose
guilt is not based on ''clear and convincing evidence leaving no
room for an alternative explanation of the facts''. Serious
miscarriages of justice in capital cases have already occurred in
the USA. Since 1973, 121 people have been released from US
death rows on the grounds of innocence. Others have gone to
their deaths despite serious doubts about their guilt.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible, in your own words, including Frances
Newton's prisoner number, #922, in your appeals:
- expressing concern that Frances Newton is scheduled to be
executed on 14 September 2005, despite doubts over the
reliability of her conviction which have not been dispelled since
her previous stay of execution;
- noting that Frances Newton was prosecuted in Harris County
and ballistics evidence central to the state's case was processed
at the troubled Houston Police Department crime laboratory;
- expressing concern that retesting of crucial physical evidence
on Frances Newton's skirt, ordered by Governor Perry, has
proved impossible due to the mishandling of the evidence by the
authorities;
- calling on the Presiding Officer of the Board of Pardons and
Paroles to convey your concerns to all the members of the
Board;
- citing the United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection
of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, which prohibit
the execution of anyone whose guilt is not based on ''clear and
convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative
explanation of the facts'';
- urging that the Board and Governor Perry stop the execution
and commute the death sentence of Frances Newton
immediately.
APPEALS TO:
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
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
PO box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
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: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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