[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 22



TEXAS----impending 400th state execution

Texas, it's time to get in step on capital punishment----State needs to
recognize the flaws in its death penalty system


Every country in Europe, and nearly every country in the Americas, has
abolished the death penalty. It is carried out today in just a handful of
countries: China, Iran, Congo  and the United States. We are out of step
with our allies and the countries with which we share history and culture.

In fact, it is mostly the southern United States, and Texas in particular,
that is out of step. The top 11 states in number of executions are all
southern and border states. Well over one-third of those executions have
been carried out by Texas. The next inmate is scheduled to die today; he
will be the 400th person put to death in Texas since executions resumed in
1982. That total is over 4 times as many as the next closest state.

For most Texans, being out of step with non-Texans is not a concern.
Indeed, Texans are proud of their distinctiveness, which may be one reason
Texans cling so stubbornly to the death penalty.

What is different about Southerners that explains this difference over the
death penalty? One distinctive feature is religion. Southern religion has
traditionally been dominated by Evangelical Protestantism. (As a life-long
United Methodist, I share that tradition.) Evangelical faith emphasizes
individual accountability and each person's direct relationship with God.

For many believers, respecting the dignity of both victim and murderer
requires capital punishment.

However appealing in principle, this argument breaks down when we examine
the Texas death penalty system. Even in Texas, fewer than 2 % of all
murderers are executed. Although some claim that the death penalty is
reserved for only the worst murderers, the system does not separate the
wheat from the chaff in this manner.

The factors that lead some murderers to receive the death penalty, while
the majority do not, have almost nothing to do with the severity of the
crime or the depravity of the defendant. Instead, two factors account most
significantly for the selection of who is actually sentenced to death:
incompetent defense counsel and race. There is also a large element of
mistake and error in the system. These factors have nothing to do with
whether a particular defendant deserves death.

Incompetent attorneys: Nearly every capital defendant is poor, and their
attorneys are state-appointed and -paid. Some of these attorneys have
provided abysmal representation. The process of sorting out who is most
deserving of death does not work when the most fundamental component of
the adversary system, competent counsel, is missing.

Race: Studies show that the race of the victim and the defendant has a
direct bearing on sentencing. A Texan who murders a white person is 5
times as likely to be sentenced to death as one who murders an
African-American. And white Texans almost never receive the death penalty
for killing blacks. The race of the defendant and the race of the victim
are not fair ways to decide who is most deserving of death.

Mistakes: A shocking number of persons have been freed from death row
nationwide because they were proven innocent. Texas officials insist that
all persons on Texas death row are guilty. That is an assertion more of
faith than of evidence; indeed, the odds are excellent that they could be
wrong. (The courts that hear death penalty appeals in Texas  the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit  are among the most willing to overlook serious errors in
death penalty trials.)

In its unfairness and the prevalence of mistakes, the death penalty
reveals government at its worst. We may disagree in the abstract over the
nature of justice and whether the state is justified in taking life. But
we should agree to look carefully at the real death penalty in Texas.

As people who value the individual, Texans ordinarily have a healthy
distrust of government. When we look at this issue with that skeptical
eye, we'll see that the actual practice of the death penalty does not
deliver justice.

(source: Op-Ed, Dallas Morning News----Timothy W. Floyd is a law professor
at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., and a former long-time law professor
at Texas Tech)





*********************

History in the making


Standing against the wall, pen in hand, Brian Lacy watched as numerous
prisoners lay lifeless on the execution table.

It was nothing new to him, just part of his job.

As a former managing editor for the The Huntsville Item, Lacy saw anywhere
from 35 to 40 executions. Now working in public relations in Alabama, he
recalls his times in the chamber.

"I don't know if it ever got easier," Lacy said. "I always had a feeling
that I never wanted to see them, but it was part of the job. It had to get
done."

Press, protestors and family members of the victim and condemned will
gather for yet another execution today.

The execution of Johnny Conner will bring the capital punishment tally to
400 for the state of Texas, marking the 31st year in a row Texas has led
the United States in executions.

"Texas is a large state population-wise, so, of course, the number of
murders committed is going to be higher," Death Penalty Information Center
director Richard Dieter said.

This year, the U.S. has executed 33 condemned inmates, 20 of those taking
place in Texas.

"We're a tough-on-crime state," Walker County Criminal District Attorney
David Weeks said. "We're not afraid to use the tools we have."

But many against the death penalty say that's no excuse.

"It's alarming that Texas has made up such a large portion of the overall
executions," said David Attwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty. "It makes you wonder why Texas has so many."

There are many proposed explanations as to why Texas has allowed its
capital punishment count to reach an almost untouchable level.

"It's a combination of things, really," Attwood said. "The frontiered
justice mentality has a lot to do with it. Theres also a temdenous amount
of politics involved."

Nationally, over the last 6 years, the number of executions has been on
the decline.

"In the northern states, you have either a governer, a state court or the
federal court that has a particular problem with the statute," Dieter
said. "But in Texas, I think all the groups are in allignment."

Even so, some argue that in today's society, death penalties are harder to
come by.

"It's harder to get executed these days because we have the life without
parole option," Weeks said. "It would take an extreme case for me to seek
the death penalty, but there are times when it could be considered. We
don't see that type of crime in our county and I'm thankful for that."

79 years in Huntsville

>From 1928 to 1965, death row and the execution chamber were both held in
Huntsville until death row inmates were moved 12 miles north to the Ellis
Unit.

Today, male death row inmates are stationed at the Polunsky Unit in
Livingston while female inmates are housed in the Mountain View Unit
outside Gatesville.

The execution chamber remains located in Huntsville.

"It gets to the point where that's all Huntville is known for," Lacy said.
"When you say you're from Huntsville, that's what people associate with
the town. It gives the city a bad rap after this many."

Before switching to lethal injection, the state used the electric chair
or "Old Sparky"  as the only means to execution.

When Texas made the transition to lethal injection in 1977, 361 death row
inmates had been electrocuted. Texas was the 1st state to use this
brand-new method of execution.

After capital punishment was deemed "cruel and unusual punishment" by the
Supreme Court in 1972, Texas passed a new statue the following year to
standardize the way the death penalty was assessed.

Juries began imposing death sentences under the new statute and death row
flooded with prisoners again in 1974.

18 years after the last death row inmate was electrocuted,

Texas had its 1st execution in 1982 with Charlie Brooks, Jr., making him
the 1st inmate in the United States to be put to death by lethal
injection.

Procedural process

According to Texas law, state executions cannot take place before 6 p.m.

Inmates are transported from death row on the scheduled day of execution.

After the inmate is strapped to the execution table by a volunteer
strap-down team of correctional officers, families of the victim are
escorted into one side of the chamber while members of the inmate's family
are sat on the other side.

A last statement is then issued by the inmate.

"I remember one instance when a husband used his last statement to cuss
out his ex-wife," Lacy said. "It just shows you that they're real people
and it kind of bring it back to reality for you."

The IVs attached to the inmate's wrist are snaked through a hole in the
wall of an adjacent room.

Immediately following the last statement, the leathal solution is injected
into the IVs. Approximately 7 minutes later, a medical official declares
the time of death.

Is it  or isn't it  news

The Huntsville Item has been in place at every execution since 1982 along
with The Associated Press.

But the question remains among newspapers everywhere: is it news?

Managing Editor Jay Ermis said coverage of executions is part of The
Items' responsibility to report and document what is taking place in
Huntsville and Walker County.

"The Item is the newspaper of record where executions are concerned," he
said. "The reporting of an execution documents that the sentence has been
carried out, regardless of the number of years an inmate has been on death
row."

Editors across the nation have questioned coverage on the death penalty
especially in Texas  but Dale Leach, the head of The Associated Press in
Texas, said not all coverage should be based on public opinion.

"I don't think the level of public interest should always define whether
or not something is newsworthy," Leach said. "If the number of citizens
that don't care about (certain) issues meant newspapers stopped covering
those issues... No, I don't think so.

"It is a public taking of life. It is a moment of finality and a moment
with which the state has chosen to take a very emphatic and final action,"
Leach said. "So I don't that's something that anybody should take lightly.
(The AP's) position is that if the state is going to take someone's life
there ought to be some public record of that.

While many believe that executions have become a non-event in Huntsville,
Byrd said that the interest in the subject is still there.

"It's interesting to a lot of people, I'm sure," Byrd said. "But that's
not the reason we cover thing."

Leach said newspapers and news agencies do not always base coverage on
public opinion.

"There are a lot of people who are virtually uninterested in whether or
not Lindsay Lohan goes to rehab," Leach said. "And I don't dispute that
there are a few people that are interested and the face that they are
interested forces us to cover it."

Where from here

With 393 prisoners awaiting their day in the execution chamber, it doesn't
seem likely executions will end anytime soon.

"I hope people can ask themselves the question do we really need this?"
Attwood said. "I hope people will eventually wake up."

Dieter said that while death sentences have declined nationwide, it's not
likely they will end anytime soon.

"I don't know that Texas will remain the far-away leader but it may become
more comperable to other states," Dieter said. "Texas is starting to slow
down with the number of death sentences handed down. I think the
international debate about the death penalty is continuing. And I think it
will affect the way we're looked at as a country. There's always an
exchange of ideas and there's always pride in your own state and your own
country."

Weeks said the death penalty was slowing down because of the increased
manpower, time and money involved in prosecuting a capital murder case.

"It's harder to be executed these days because we have the parole
alternative and then there's the cost," Weeks said. "It would take an
extreme case for me to seek the death penalty in this county simply
because of the costs  and that they could be handled in th ways. But there
are times."

Around the globe

The European Union on Tuesday called on Gov. Rick Perry to halt executions
before the state hit the 400 mark, urging Perry to "exercise all powers
vested in his office" to halt the impending execution.

"The Eurpoean Union notes with great reget the upcoming exection in the
State of Texas," the bloc of 27 European countries said in a statement.

But Perry spokesperson Robert Black responded that while Texas "respects
our friends in Europe" the state would decline to stop executions in the
state.

"The reason our forefathers fought a war 230 years ago was to throw off
the yoke of a European monarch so that we may have the freedom of
self-determination," Black said. "Texans long ago decided that the death
penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes
committed against the citizens."

(source: Huntsville Item)

****************

Bad Judgment----The attorney general may soon have unwarranted power in
death penalty cases.

ASKING Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to be the arbiter of the
quality of legal representation for death row inmates is a little like
asking the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys to pick the starting lineup
for the Washington Redskins, just before the 2 teams are set to play. It's
a bad idea, even if the Dallas coach were the most honorable person in the
land. Yet that's the situation created by a little-noticed change in death
penalty law, with obviously higher stakes and with an attorney general who
has been less than trustworthy.

Under a provision of the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act,
states may ask the attorney general to approve their programs for
providing lawyers to death row inmates who appeal their convictions in
federal courts. As the Los Angeles Times first reported last week, states
whose programs are certified by the attorney general will then have the
right to fast-track those appeals. After exhausting their appeals, inmates
would have 6 months to file federal habeas corpus petitions; they now have
one year, although that deadline is often ignored or extended.

Judges would also be under greater time pressure because of extraordinary
deadline provisions in the law. Appeals courts, for example, would have at
most 4 months to rule on the merits of challenges. The attorney general's
decisions would be subject to review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit, but neither the law nor the rules crafted by the Justice
Department to implement the law specify how much leeway that court will
have.

The idea of allowing states a more efficient way to process federal habeas
petitions in exchange for providing qualified counsel for death row
inmates is not new. The same principle was incorporated into a 1996
federal law. But that law, unlike the present one, called for the federal
courts -- not the country's top prosecutor -- to decide whether state
programs were up to snuff.

The law and the new Justice Department rules governing its use lack
specificity on what constitutes competent counsel, especially in the
labyrinthine world of capital punishment litigation. The rules also
suggest that a state's certification cannot be revoked even if the state
changes the program or fails to follow its own dictates. The Justice
Department should address these flaws and provide clearer guidance through
the ongoing rule-making process.

What is not fixable through administrative tinkering is the absurd
provision that the attorney general certify the state programs. Congress
should rewrite the law to restore the courts as the first and final
arbiters. No attorney general should be making these decisions --
especially not Mr. Gonzales, who as legal counsel to then-Gov. George W.
Bush of Texas gave notoriously short shrift to death row inmates seeking
clemency from the governor.

We oppose capital punishment, but if the criminal justice system is to
impose the ultimate penalty, it must do so with exacting standards and
fairness. This law lacks both.

(source: Editorial, Washington Post)

**************************

EU urges Texas to halt executions


The European Union has strongly criticised death penalties carried out in
Texas, calling on its authorities to halt the 400th execution in the US
state.

In a statement released on Tuesday (21 August), the Portuguese EU
presidency said the bloc viewed with "great regret" the upcoming
executions and urged Texas Governor Rick Perry to halt them and consider a
moratorium on the death penalty.

"We believe that elimination of the death penalty is fundamental to the
protection of human dignity, and to the progressive development of human
rights. We further consider this punishment to be cruel and inhumane,"
Lisbon stated on behalf of the EU.

"There is no evidence to suggest that the use of the death penalty serves
as a deterrent against violent crime and the irreversibility of the
punishment means that miscarriages of justice - which are inevitable in
all legal systems  cannot be redressed."

On Wednesday the 400 mark since capital punishment was reintroduced in
Texas in 1976 is due to be reached with the execution of 32-year old
Johnny Ray Conner for killing a grocery store clerk in 1998.

Commenting on the EU's appeal to call off his death sentence, Governor
Perry replied that it would be a "just and appropriate" punishment for the
murderer.

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate
punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens,"
his spokesman told the BBC.

"230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a
European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination," he pointed
out, adding "While we respect our friends in Europe, Texans are doing just
fine governing Texas."

Texas has carried out about 1/3 of around 1,100 executions that have taken
place in the US since the country's Supreme Court lifted a ban on death
penalty in 1976, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty
Information Center.

EU initiatives against death penalty

For its part, the EU has abolished capital punishment throughout its 27
member states.

The same principle is also applied across the wider Council of Europe
organisation which links together 47 countries across the European
continent.

In February, the EU's legislature adopted a resolution calling for a
global moratorium on the death penalty, with several member states -
particularly Italy - lobbying for the same initiative through the United
Nations General Assembly.

The death penalty is currently legal in 68 countries, although 30 of them
have not used it for at least 10 years.

(source: EU Observer)

**********************

Texas rejects EU executions plea ---- More than 1,000 people have been
executed in the US since 1976

Texas has told the European Union to mind its own business after the bloc
called on the state's governor to get rid of the death penalty.

The EU expressed "great regret" at Texas' preparations to carry out its
400th death penalty and renewed its call to the US to halt executions.

Johnny Ray Conner, 32, will be executed on Wednesday for the 1998 fatal
shooting of a grocery store clerk.

But Governor Rick Perry insisted it was a "just and appropriate"
punishment.

He was responding robustly to the EU's denunciation of judicial killings
as "cruel and inhumane".

The statement from the Portuguese presidency of the 27-nation bloc said:
"The European Union strongly urges Governor Rick Perry to exercise all
powers vested in his office to halt all upcoming executions and to
consider the introduction of a moratorium in the state of Texas."

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate
punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our
citizens"----Governor's spokesman

It continued: "There is no evidence to suggest that the use of the death
penalty serves as a deterrent against violent crime and the
irreversibility of the punishment means that miscarriages of justice,
which are inevitable in all legal systems, cannot be redressed."

But Robert Black, a spokesman for the Texas governor, told the BBC News
website: "Two hundred and thirty years ago, our forefathers fought a war
to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of
self-determination.

"Texans long ago decided the death penalty is a just and appropriate
punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens.

"While we respect our friends in Europe ... Texans are doing just fine
governing Texas."

According to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, 1,090
executions have taken place in the US since the Supreme Court lifted a ban
on capital punishment in 1976.

Texas has carried out more than 1/3 of those.

(source: BBC)

***********************************'

Texas will proceed with its 400th execution in 25 years


Johnny Ray Conner, 32 years old, qualified his death sentence as "an act
of barbarity against justice and humanity". The state's authorities stated
that a moratorium is out of the question, despite the European Union's
insistence.

A man found guilty of the murder of a Vietnamese immigrant during a
robbery in a Houston grocery store will be executed Wednesday August 22nd
at 1:00am (French time), and will be the 400th execution in Texas in 25
years. Contrary to its ways, the European Union officially called on
Governor Perry to declare a moratorium on the death penalty. Johnny Ray
Conner will be the 21st prisoner executed this year in Texas and the 400th
since executions resumed in this state in 1982.

"Deep regrets" from the European Union

On May 17th 1998, it took less than one hour for the jury to find him
guilty of the murder of a 49-year old Vietnamese employed in a grocery
store, Kathyanna Nguyen. And it took less than 5 hours for the verdict: a
death sentence. "The sanction is irreversible, judicial errors,
unavoidable in any legal system, cannot be fixed", observed the Europen
Union in a press release expressing its "deepest regrets" for the
scheduled execution.

A moratorium is out of the question

The state's authorities did however say they didn't intend to change their
mind. If Texas "respects its European friends", a moratorium is out of the
question explained Governor Rick Perry's spokesman, Robert Black. Conner's
attorneys requested in appellate court that the US Supreme Court review
this case and stay the execution. They explained that his court appointed
attorney at trial did not investigate a wound on his leg, which would
exclude any possibility of a runnaway from the crime scene. Witnesses said
they recognized him as they saw him leaving the store. The attorneys also
protest fingerprints found on a bottle of fruit juice, underlining that
other fingerprints belonging to a thrid party, were also found on the
bottle. They underline that it was impossible to determine when the bottle
was held.

"An atrocious act of barbarity"

In January an appeal court reversed the judge who had granted a new trial,
convinced that the defense had not raised sufficient evidence regarding
Conner's leg wound.

Born in Louisianna, Johnny Ray Conner was known by the police for assaults
and various drug related offenses dating from 12 years before the crime.
He refused to speak with the press during the past weeks. On a website
against the death penalty, he called his sentence "an act of barbarity
against justice and humanity".

(source: (France)--Le Nouvel Observateur)

**********************

Texas inmate set to die for 1998 Houston slaying


Convicted killer Johnny Ray Conner is poised to set a grim milestone for
Texas.

The 32-year-old is scheduled to become the 400th condemned inmate Texas
has put to death since resuming executions in 1982.

The total is by far the highest among states with the death penalty.
Conner faces lethal injection tomorrow over a fatal shooting during a 1998
Houston convenience store robbery.

The victim was clerk Kathyanna Nguyen. A customer also was shot but
survived, and helped identify Conner.

He'd be the 21st convicted killer to be executed this year in Texas.
Conner's attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the
execution.

The Shreveport, Louisiana, native, has a history of assaults and drug
offenses, including cocaine possession when he was 12.

(source: Associated Press)