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NEW ACTION FOR TROY DAVIS

On 25th June 2009, the U.S Supreme Court will decide whether to allow a court to hear Troy Davis’s case. If the court rules against him, Georgia District Attorney Larry Chisolm will have to make the decision to either reopen Troy’s case and let his evidence of innocence be heard, or he can seek a fifth execution date for Troy.

Seven out of the nine witnesses in Troy’s case have recanted their testimony, and six people have signed affidavits implicating another man in the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail yet no court has agreed to hear from the witnesses to evaluate their testimony.

 

 Davis will be executed unless Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue or the Savannah District Attorney Larry Chisolm intervene and re-open his case. Please click here to send an email directly to the Governor and District Attorney Larry Chisolm.

NEW HOPE FOR JUSTIN WOLFE

A federal appeals court recently ordered a judge to re-examine new evidence that could prove Justin’s innocence. Justin has been on Virginia death row since 2002 for a crime he did not commit. The federal court said the evidence which includes the recantation of the prosecution's key witness -- "strongly suggests" a new hearing might be necessary and said the judge must fully explore it.

Michele Brace, an attorney for Justin Wolfe, lauded the ruling. "We are pleased with the court's decision and we look forward to the opportunity to present Justin's case more fully to the courts," Brace said.

PAUL HOUSE CLEARED AFTER 20 YEARS ON TENNESSEE DEATH ROW

Prosecutors in Tennessee have dropped all pending charges against Paul House finally ending his two-decade struggle to clear his name. Paul House was convicted in 1986 of a crime he always denied committing. Paul served two decades on death row before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that he was entitled to a new hearing. He has been free since last July while a new trial was pending. Substantial DNA testing and further investigation has shown that he is innocent. Paul House becomes the 132nd person to be released from death row with evidence of innocence since the death penalties re-instatement in 1976 – the number of wrongful death sentences is extremely alarming and can only add weight to the repeal efforts going on in U.S states.

ILLINOIS DEATH ROW PRISONER NATHSON FIELDS EXONERATED

Nathson Fields was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985 by Judge Thomas Maloney for his alleged role in a gang-related double murder. During Fields' trial, Maloney accepted a bribe from the lawyer of Fields' co-defendant. Maloney became nervous that the FBI was watching the case closely, so he returned the bribe, and then sentenced both Fields and his co-defendant to death.

An FBI investigation into the bribe and other charges led to Maloney's conviction in 1993. He was sentenced to 15 years. Maloney died last year, a few months after his release from prison. Yet despite Maloney's crime, Fields' conviction and death sentence were not called into question.

Fields spent a total of 18 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, including a total of 11 years on death row. Fields faced a long road to his acquittal. In 1996, he won a new trial. Incredibly, though, he had to wait more than 11 years for his retrial to start due to a series of appeals by the prosecution.

Fields who was acquitted of capital murder charges on April 8th 2009 is the 11th person in the State of Illinois to be exonerated from death row since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

NEW MEXICO ENDS DEATH PENALTY

We would like to congratulate New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and the New Mexico State Legislature for repealing the death penalty in New Mexico. The State is the first this year to end capital punishment and with similar legislation going through in several other States, Abolition UK hopes that more will follow suit.

 

Replacing the death penalty has marked the end of a costly, ineffective aspect of New Mexico's criminal justice system. Alongside it went the false promise that executions would bring healing to family's of murder victims. Now in New Mexico the priority will be on assisting murder victims' families as opposed to pursuing the executions of a handful of individuals. Perpetrators will now be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

New Mexico's decision to end capital punishment brings to 15 the number of states that no longer carry out executions. Other states have put a moratorium executions on hold or have commissioned studies to look into the risks of executing the innocent, the unfair application of the death penalty, how it fails victims' families and the huge costs involved, all evidence that Americans are moving away from capital punishment.

To read Governor Richardson's statement please click here.

REPEAL BILLS IN SEVERAL U.S STATES SIGNAL A MOVE TOWARDS ABOLITION

Legislative sessions are in full swing across several States in the U.S. The new trend seems to be that real attention is now being paid to the wasteful costs of the death penalty with costs amounting to 2-6 times more than a sentence of life without parole.

New Mexico

The House of Representatives voted recently to abolish New Mexico’s death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without parole. The legislation passed on a vote of 40-28, and is now headed to the Senate.

Republican, Gail Chasey who has sponsored similar legislation for the past decade contended capital punishment is expensive, doesn’t deter violent crime and is imposed in a discriminatory manner. Ms Chasey also cited a case where the state came close to executing four innocent people had the actual murderer not come forward.

Supporters of repeal say the resources the state puts into capital punishment could better be spent helping murder victims’ families.

Colorado

In Colorado more than 500 murder victims family members who have lost friends and family to unsolved murders are pushing a plan to end Colorado's death penalty and spend the savings to investigate the state's more than 1,300 cold cases and provide more services for victims family members.

Montana

In Montana the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Montana abolition bill and sent it to the Senate floor where it is expected to be debated this week. In Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee, MD Governor O'Malley is scheduled to testify on the abolition bill that he himself is sponsoring.

Missouri

Several groups are urging support for a bill that would place a moratorium on Missouri’s death penalty. The bill would create a statewide commission that would examine whether all prosecutors use similar criteria in seeking the death penalty and whether defendants receive adequate counsel. The commission also would look at whether alternatives to the death penalty exist that ensure public safety and whether the condemned share particular demographics, such as race, ethnicity, age, and mental capacity.

LARRY SWEARINGEN GETS A STAY

A federal appeals court in Texas has stopped this week's scheduled execution of a man condemned for abducting, raping and strangling a 19-year-old suburban Houston woman 10 years ago. Larry Swearingen, 37, faced lethal injection Tuesday evening for the death of Melissa Trotter, whose body was found Jan. 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest south of Huntsville. The discovery came 25 days after she was last seen leaving the library at Montgomery College near Conroe.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the reprieve Monday after Swearingen's attorneys raised questions about the timing of Trotter's death. Swearingen insisted he couldn't have killed Trotter because he was in jail for outstanding traffic warrants when newly evaluated forensic evidence indicates the woman's body was dumped in the woods not far from his home.

 

Source: By Michael Graczyk The Associated Press

Jan. 26, 2009

MARYLAND GOVERNOR SPONSORS REPEAL BILL FOR ABOLITION

Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he will for the first time personally sponsor a bill and do "everything in [his] power" to abolish capital punishment in Maryland, signalling his desire to make the issue a chief accomplishment as he enters the second half of his term.

O'Malley said in an interview that he plans to invest heavy political capital to persuade the General Assembly to pass a repeal bill during its current 90-day legislation session, even asking lawmakers to work around a Senate committee that has kept such a bill from passing before if necessary.

O'Malley said the death penalty is not a deterrent, wastes resources that could be better spent fighting violent crime and leaves the state open to the possibility of executing innocent people. "That risk alone should be enough to repeal it and substitute it with life without parole," he said.

The 37 executions that took place nationally last year marked a 14-year low and continued a downward trend after peaking in 1999, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In late 2007, New Jersey became the first state in a generation to abolish the death penalty; others are considering it.

Maryland has executed five people since it reinstated the death penalty in 1978. Five inmates are on death row.

The state has had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment since December 2006, the month before O'Malley took office, after the state's highest court ruled that procedures for lethal injection had not been properly adopted. O'Malley has declined to issue new regulations allowing executions to resume.

Source: Washington Post

January 16, 2009

 

TEXAS COURT REJECTS APPEAL FOR RODNEY REED

In a unanimous decision announced last month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Reed's petition for a new trial, claiming that evidence suppressed by the state of Texas would not have swayed a jury to acquit Reed. The court's decision flies in the face of startling facts that point to a sinister web of police corruption, prosecutorial misconduct and Jim Crow style racism.

Rodney has been on Texas' death rowsince 1998 for the 1996 strangulation murder of Stacey Stites, a resident of Giddings, Texas. He was convicted on the basis of a semen DNA sample taken from Stites' body that matched Reed. However, Reed claims that he and Stacey were engaged in a consensual relationship at the time of her death, which helps explain the presence of the DNA sample.

Several witnesses, most of whom were not called to testify at the original trial, corroborate this claim. Other area residents have since claimed that intimidation from law enforcement officials dissuaded them from speaking up about the affair.

Far more evidence in the case suggests the involvement of Stites' fiancé at the time, Jimmy Fennell. Fennell was a Giddings police officer known for his violent temper and racism. In a sworn affidavit, the woman Fennell began dating three months after Stacey's murder described him as "abusive, possessive, controlling and extremely prejudiced toward African-Americans." Fennell also failed two lie detector tests when asked if he murdered Stacey, and he promptly sold the truck Stites was driving the morning of her death after police investigators returned it to him.

 

More recently, Fennell was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and engaging in "improper sexual conduct" with a woman in his custody. This conviction came after he pleaded down from a sexual assault charge. Reed's supporters say that this helps confirm what they have been saying about Fennell all along.

 

Other than the semen sample containing Rodney's DNA, no physical evidence has ever linked Reed to the crime. In fact, another DNA sample found on a beer can at the scene of the murder matches a local police officer and close friend of Fennell's.

In spite of this evidence of innocence, the notoriously pro-prosecution Court of Criminal Appeals has seen fit to bring Rodney one step closer to the Texas death chamber.

Source: Socialist Worker

January 12th, 2009

ABOLITION UK ROAD SHOW!!

In the Summer of last year we did several stalls at events in London which were very successful in raising awareness and bringing in new supporters. Thousands of flyers were given out, clemency letters sent, petitions signed and names added to the mailing list.

Can you pledge just 1 day this year to help run an Abolition UK stall?

We are asking for volunteers to take part in our Abolition UK roadshow! You could help on a stall in your high street or at a local event, wherever you choose really. Just drop us an email if you would like to take part.

STOP TEXAS EXECUTING LARRY SWEARINGEN-HE IS INNOCENT!

Larry Swearing is an innocent man who is scheduled to be executed on January 27th by the State of Texas despite the fact that he didn't kill anyone. Larry was in prison while the murder occurred and there is DNA evidence to further prove that he is innocent of this crime.

 

Evidence was withheld from the medical examiner and the jury; leading the medical examiner at the time of trial to a wrong time of victim's death that resulted in the jury giving a death sentence. The medical examiner reviewed the case in 2007 and reversed her opinion on the date of the victim’s death, with now four forensic pathologists independently reaching the same conclusion.

To sign the petition and find out more information on Larry's case, visit:

www.larry-swearingen.com

MARYLAND COULD FOLLOW NEW JERSEY IN MOVE TOWARDS ABOLITION

Maryland's commission to study capital punishment announced this morning that its members had voted 13-9 to recommend repealing the death penalty.

Its report to the General Assembly outlines the commission's findings after listening to 35 hours of testimony over five months, including the determination that it is possible to execute an innocent person and that racial and jurisdictional biases play into the application of the death penalty.

The report is expected to form the basis for a push during next year's legislative session to outlaw the death penalty, a topic that has divided the General Assembly in recent years.

"There is no good and sufficient reason to have the death penalty," Chairman Benjamin R. Civiletti said at a news conference. Explaining the commission's recommendation of repeal rather than reform, he said, "There are so many faults, so many flaws within the system that we could not imagine ... ways in which to cure it."

 

State Attorney, Scott Shellenberger was initially critical of the commission, appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is opposed to capital punishment. But after the news conference this morning, Shellenberger said he thought his 21 fellow commissioners were fair and open-minded. "I don't at all feel like the deck was stacked."

Several legislators on the commission said they would urge the General Assembly to pursue repeal in the legislative session that begins in January.

Source: Baltimore Sun

GREGORY WRIGHT - SAD NEWS

It with deep sadness that we bring to you the news that Gregory Wright was executed by the State of Texas on October 30th 2008. Our hearts go out to Connie and Greg's family at this difficult time. Our kind thoughts are with those who have had loved ones taken from them through murder or state sanctioned execution.

 

We will continue stronger than ever in our fight to stop innocent people being executed and bring an end to the death penalty, in the name of justice and for the families of the executed, of those on death row and for the murder victims family members who have been let down by the death penalty system.

STAY OF EXECUTION FOR TROY DAVIS

The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Friday halted Troy Anthony Davis’ execution, the third time his life has been spared shortly before he was to be put to death. Davis’ claims of innocence, based largely on the recantations of prosecution witnesses, have attracted international attention and protest. He was set to be executed by lethal injection Monday evening for the 1989 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer.

For the third time in 16 months, Troy Davis was granted a stay of execution.

The 11th Circuit’s ruling is the latest in what has been a roller-coaster ride of last-ditch appeals in which Davis, 40, has been repeatedly denied relief only to be spared again and again.

Martina Correia, Davis’ sister, said she and her mother, Virginia Davis, were packing for the trip to death-row when they got the news.

“I’ve been praying,” Correia said. “He deserves to be free. He at least doesn’t deserve to die for something he didn’t do.”

Since Davis’ 1991 trial, seven of nine key prosecution witnesses have backed off their testimony. Others have come forward and implicated another man in the killing of 27-year-old Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

The witnesses’ recantations have prompted leaders across the globe to call for Davis’ death sentence be commuted. But Chatham County prosecutors say they are certain Davis is a cop killer and deserves to die for it.

When the 11th Circuit issued its stay, Davis’ supporters were holding a mock funeral at the state Capitol. Demonstrators carried a coffin and a petition with 140,000 signatures to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Davis’ supporters also delivered a letter signed by more than 100 members of Georgia’s clergy to the Governor’s office.

Correia talked to Davis after the court issued its stay. “To all the people around the world working hard and fighting for him, he wants to say thank you and this fight has to continue,” she said.

The officer’s 75-year-old mother, Anneliese, expressed fury and exasperation.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “It’s tearing us apart. I’m at the end with my nerves. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. This is ridiculous.”

MacPhail’s sister, Kathy McQuary, cried when she learned of the stay from a reporter.

Davis’ lawyers expressed hope the stay leads to the new evidence being presented at a hearing.

“I am extremely relieved that the 11th Circuit, when addressed with such a grave issue as the innocence of a man set for execution, wants to hear argument and make a considered judgment,” said Tom Dunn, a member of Davis’ legal team.

The state Attorney General’s Office canceled Monday’s execution, spokesman Russ Willard said, adding that state attorneys are exploring the their options.

On Wednesday, Davis asked the 11th Circuit for permission to pursue a new federal habeas corpus petition — in which an inmate claims he is unlawfully incarcerated. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 requires a federal appeals court to approve such a request before such a new lawsuit can be filed.

“Upon our thorough review of the record, we conclude that Davis has met the burden for a stay of execution,” the court said in an order issued by Judges Joel Dubina, Rosemary Barkett and Stanley Marcus.

The judges called the stay “conditional” and said they want to hear more from Davis’ lawyers and state attorneys. Davis must clear two difficult legal hurdles to win a new round of appeals. First, he must show that his lawyers could not have previously found the new evidence supporting his innocence no matter how diligently they looked for it. And he must show that the new testimony, viewed in light of all the evidence, is enough to prove “by clear and convincing evidence that…no reasonable fact finder would have found [him] guilty.”

The 11th Circuit added a twist. It asked the parties to address whether Davis can still be executed if he can establish innocence under the second standard but cannot satisfy his burden under the first, due-diligence question.

The court gave Davis’ lawyers 15 days to file their legal brief and state attorneys another 10 days to respond.

In July 2007, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a stay less than 24 hours before Davis was to be put to death. Last month, the Supreme Court halted Davis’ execution with less than two hours to spare.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

JOIN ABOLITION UK AT THE LONDON VIGIL TO PROTEST THE EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS

Please come along to the vigil at the U.S Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London to protest the imminent execution of Troy Davis on Monday 27th October at 7pm local U.S time.

Place: U.S Embassy, 24 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE

Date & Time: Monday 27th October from 5-8pm

Nearest underground stations:Oxford Circus, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Piccadilly Circus

Please bring along any candles, placards, banners and leaflets you may have and invite as many people as you can.

Supreme Court Refuses Troy Davis Appeal

The Supreme Court today refused to hear an appeal by a Georgia man facing execution for the 1989 murder of a police officer, declining to decide whether the death penalty should be ruled out for a defendant who presents strong evidence of innocence.

The order clears the way for Georgia to proceed with the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, 40. It was issued three weeks after the high court granted him a stay with less than two hours to spare.

In refusing to hear a full appeal, the court maintained the high bar it has set for assertions of innocence following convictions in capital cases. Georgia now can set a new date for Davis's execution, because the court's stay expires with today's order.

Georgia's Supreme Court has twice refused to grant Davis a new trial, and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected his request for clemency again last month despite pleas from a number of dignitaries.

The 1991 death sentence against Davis came under scrutiny after seven of nine witnesses who helped convict him recanted their testimony or changed their statements. Several told of being pressured by police to tell them what they wanted to hear. In addition, three other

people have said another man who identified Davis as the killer had confessed to being the actual triggerman.

However, relatives and supporters of the victim in the case, Mark Allen MacPhail, insist that police got the right man when they charged Davis with murdering the off-duty Savannah police officer in the early hours of Aug. 19, 1989, when MacPhail tried to stop Davis and two friends from brutally beating a homeless man in a fast-food

restaurant parking lot.

MacPhail, a former Army Ranger and father of two children, was 27 when he was killed. He was shot once in the chest--the bullet passed through a gap in his bullet-proof vest--and once in the face as he lay on the ground.

Davis, 40, admitted at his trial that he was at the scene of the murder but denied participating in the assault on the homeless man or the shooting of MacPhail.

His execution has been halted on two occasions, most recently on Sept. 23, when the Supreme Court held an emergency session and issued a stay less than two hours before Davis was to receive a lethal injection.

Despite witness statements recanting previous testimony or

implicating Coles in the shooting, appeals courts have refused to grant Davis a new trial. One major obstacle has been a 1996 federal law, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which was passed by Congress in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing with the

aim of restricting federal reviews of state death penalty convictions.

URGENT ACTION-TROY DAVIS SET TO BE EXECUTED SEPTEMBER 23RD

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23rd, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court. We are asking everyone to take action NOW!!

Troy was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

On 16th July, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis execution, stating that it would not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused. The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis's guilt will remain unresolved.

Please send an email to Governor Sonny Purdue at his website: http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.html

You can also contact the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board by emailing: Clemency_Information@pap.state.ga.us

To read more about this case and to help further visit his website here.

ENTHUSIASTIC VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY NEEDED-CAN YOU SPARE AN HOUR OR TWO? 

We still have stalls booked at a number of green fairs and festivals in the London area over the coming weeks. So far we have had a really great response with members of the public taking leaflets, asking us lots of questions, signing campaign letters and wanting to get more involved. It's an excellent way to spread our anti-death penalty message and you will enjoy a fun day out in the sun!! Sound good? - then check out our events and get in touch!

 

NORTH EAST AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY 

This month sees the launch of a new forum aimed at anti-death penalty supporters in the North East of England. It is a great resource packed full of information on the death penalty world-wide and it also includes specific information relating to the death penalty in each of the U.S states. You can post information, read the latest news, find about events, current cases and share your experiences of writing to people on death row. There is also a place to list petitions,polls and chat to other members of the forum. To read about this and much, much more please check out: http://neadp.fullboards.com/

DEATH WATCH INTERNATIONAL FOCUSES ON U.S DEATH PENALTY

This month, anti death penalty group Death Watch International turns the focus of its campaign for global abolition to the USA.

The US is one of only a handful of democracies among the developed nations to retain capital punishment - and the country voted against a recent United Nations' resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. Last year it executed 42 people, and after a 7 month moratorium, executed William Lynd earlier this month.

Death Watch International has asked its supporters to write to the US’ Ambassador to the UN, His Excellency Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, calling on the country to abandon the death penalty - and to underline their point by adding some (non-hazardous) trash to their message.

 Death Watch International’s Director, Simon Shepherd, explained:

“As our campaign highlights, the death penalty is an outdated and barbaric practice which belongs in the trashcan of history. In retaining the death penalty the US finds itself in an increasingly small minority - we hope she will join the civilised world and abandon it.”

Visit www.deathwatchinternational.org and take action to bin the death penalty.

RAISE MONEY FOR ABOLITION UK SIMPLY BY SHOPPING OR SEARCHING THE WEB!

Every time you use easysearch you’ll raise about 1p for every search you make. It doesn't sound like much, but the pennies soon mount up and an average surfer making just 10 searches a day could raise £25 a year - or more - just by switching to easysearch. Use easysearch every time you search the web and they’ll donate give 50% of the fees paid by their advertising sponsors to good causes such as ours.

You can also raise funds by shopping online with easyfundraising. Choose from over 500 of the UK's best-known retailers including many popular names such as NEXT, Amazon, Debenhams, John Lewis and HMV, and when you shop using the links on easyfundraising up to 15% from every purchase you make is donated to Abolition UK. It doesn't cost a penny extra to shop and raise funds for Abolition UK using easyfundraising and many retailers now give extra discounts when you buy online so you can even save money!

Just visit www.easysearch.org.uk and choose Abolition UK as your cause.

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