DECEMBER
2 POSTING:
YOU DID IT
YOU STOPPED THE DEC. 1 EXECUTION!
by calling
Governor Rick Perry and
asking for a 120-day stay.
He granted the stay only two hours
before her 6:00 PM deadline.
Stay alert to see what happens next;
March 30 is 120 days from December 1.
Frances Elaine Newton is scheduled to be the first African American
woman executed in modern Texas history despite resounding questions of whether
she is guilty and whether she received a fair trial. Almost half of those on
Texas' death row are African American yet they are only 12 per cent of the population.
Newton is from Harris County, where the Houston Police Crime Lab has botched
so many cases that even the police chief and a state senator have asked the
governor to halt executions from Harris County.
The facts:
- Frances
is likely innocent of murdering her husband and two small children. Her attorneys
need time to fully investigate the crime.
- Frances’
court appointed trial attorney, Ron Mock, did nothing to prepare for her trial.
He interviewed no one and investigated nothing. He is the attorney that sent
Shaka Sankofa, a.k.a. Gary Graham, to death row & he has been sanctioned
by the State Bar of Texas at least 3 times and is no longer allowed to try
death penalty cases.
- Frances
was shocked and horrified when she found the bodies of her children and husband
after leaving the children with their father for a few hours, according to
her cousin, who was with Frances when they discovered the bodies, as well
as the police at the scene.
- Frances
told the police about a drug dealer named Charlie that her husband owed money
to. No one ever investigated him.
- Frances’
conviction rested in large part on the results of ballistics testing conducted
by the now-discredited Houston Police Department's crime lab, which said that
it was her gun that was used to murder the family.
- Frances
now has competent attorneys working on her case, including David Dow with
the Innocence Network at the UH Law School and John LaGrappe. They have filed
a petition with the Board of Pardons and Paroles asking for a 120-day stay
which argues that the 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 undertaken a cleanup at the apartment.
What you can do to help:
- Take Action
at http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=239
- Read
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's Press Release at http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/pressRelease.jsp?press_release_KEY=10
- Read
Frances Newton's Clemency Petition at http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/pressRelease.jsp?press_release_KEY=11
- Send an
appeal to the head of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. In your appeal express
concern about the reliability of Frances Newton's conviction and note 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. Call on the Board to stop this execution by granting a 120-day
reprieve to allow Frances Newton's claim of innocence to be properly investigated.
She is not asking for a commutation as she is innocent. Send the appeal to:
Rissie Owens, Presiding Officer, Board of Pardons and Paroles,
1300 11th St., Suite 520, P.O. Box 599, Huntsville, TX 77342-0599 ~ Phone:
963-291-2161 Fax: 1 936 291 8367 CALL BY NOV. 29
Contact Governor Rick Perry and ask for a 120-day stay. Phone:
512-,463-1762 ~ Fax: 512-463-1849 ~ In Texas call for free at 1-800-252-9600
Media spots to watch and listen to:
- THERE WAS A
LOT OF ACTIVITY IN LATE NOVEMBER, 2004; MORE IS PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY-MARCH
2005. Stay tuned! What happened:
- Green
Watch TV - Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 9 PM on cable access Channel 17 Topic: Radical
Encuentro Camp, December 3-5 building solidarity amongst diverse communities,
grassroots organizers and activist groups in Tejas and beyond. Gloria Rubac
and Njeri Shakur of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement did lead one
of the workshops and Rubac appeared on the TV show to discuss their workshop
and raise Frances Newton’s case as one perfect example of why the death
penalty should be abolished.
- The Women’s
Collective - Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 25, 10 PM, 90.1 FM, KPFT Frances’
mother, Iva Nelms, and close friend, Bruce Williams, and Gloria Rubac joined
Sistah Annelle and The Women's Collective to address the Halting of the Texas
Execution of a Black Woman and Violence in American Culture.
- The Prison
Program – Friday, Nov. 26, at 9 PM on KPFT, 90.1 FM Host Ray Hill interviewed
Frances’ mother, her friend Bruce and activist Gloria Rubac.
- The Box
– 97.9 FM – Sunday morning, Nov. 28, at 8:15 AM Host City Councilwoman
Ada Edwards spoke with Frances’ mother, friend Bruce and activist Gloria
Rubac and took phone calls.
Issued by: THE TEXAS DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION MOVEMENT
713-521-09629 or 713-503-2633 ~ AbolitionMovement@juno.com
Meetings first Tuesday of each month at S.H.A.P.E. Community
Center, 3815 Live Oak at Alabama.
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