Please help stop John Nixon's execution, set for Dec 14, 2005 by writing a
letter to Gov. Barbour urging him to grant clemency. Below you will find
one sample letter and a list of "talking points." It would be best if
everyone sent a different letter or at least made some changes to the
form letter.
The address to send it to is:
The Honorable Haley Barbour
c/o Paul Hurst, Chief Counsel
Office of the Governor
501 North West Street
Jackson, MS 39201
or Fax: 601 359 3741
Sample Letter
The Honorable Haley Barbour
c/o Paul Hurst, Chief Counsel
Office of the Governor
501 North West Street
Jackson, MS 39201
Re: Clemency Application of John Nixon
Dear Governor Barbour:
I am a resident of __________. I have read about Mr. Nixon. He should be
punished for what he did but I don't think it's fair for him to be put to
death
when the jury wasn't told all the facts. The jury wasn't told about his
military service or that he rescued two people. Also, I understand the
State told
the jury about a previous crime that should not have been considered
because it
was not a violent crime. It is not fair for the State to do something
improper, wait for twenty years before admitting it, and then argue that
it is too
late to do anything about it and Mr. Mr. Nixon must die. Because Mr.
Nixon was
not treated fairly when he was sentenced to death, I ask you as Governor to
commute his sentence.
Sincerely,
Talking points:
=B7 The Attorney General of Mississippi waited until January
2005 to admit that the State used improper evidence to convince the jury to
sentence Mr. Nixon to death. Under Mississippi law, if the State had
admitted
that during Mr. Nixon's original appeal, he would have been entitled to
have
his case sent back to the trial court for resentencing by a jury. Now
the
Attorney General says that, even though the State did something wrong, it
is too
late for the courts to do any thing about it.
=B7 The jury wasn't given all the facts it should have
had.
The jury wasn't told that Mr. Nixon volunteered for and served honorably
in
both the United States Navy and the United States Army. The jury also
wasn't
told that he risked his own life twice, once to save a boy from drowning
and
once to pull a woman from the burning wreckage of an airplane.
=B7 One of Mr. Nixon's trial attorneys admitted that defe=
nse
counsel did no preparation for the death penalty phase of his trial,
including no investigation.
=B7 Mr. Nixon's death sentence is disproportionate to the
sentences of the other persons who were involved in the same murder. The
man who
paid the others to kill his ex-wife had enough money to hire his own
lawyer
and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Three
others
who were indicted in connection with the murder pled guilty, received
sentences
of from five to twenty five years, and are now free.
=B7 Mr. Nixon is 77 years old and has been an exemplary
prisoner. If executed, he would be the oldest person subjected to the deat=
h
penalty in the United States in more than 100 years.
