[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----FLORIDA
Sept. 12 FLORIDA: State seeks death penalty for Chapman State Attorney Steve Russell will seek the death penalty against Jeremy Chapman, who is accused of killing Annamarie Cruz Randazzo, 17, and John Hardin, 66, both of Cape Coral. Russell filed notices to seek the death penalty in both pending 1st degree murder cases. Chapman, 23, was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury Aug. 23 and is charged with 1st -degree murder in both cases. Chapman is also charged with kidnapping, sexual battery and arson in connection with the murder of Randazzo. The Cape Coral teenager was reported missing by her family on July 22. Her charred body was found two weeks later in Lehigh Acres. Joshua Henninger, 17, of Cape Coral, is also charged in the Randazzo case. He is not eligible for the death penalty because of a United States Supreme Court ruling that prevents a state from sentencing a person under 18 to death. If convicted, Henninger faces life in prison. Hardins body was found in his Cape Coral home on Aug. 6. Trial dates in both cases against Chapman have been tentatively set for Dec. 5, 2005. (source: The News-Press)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----TEXAS, MISS.
Sept. 12 TEXASimpending female execution Parole Board Declines To Commute Houston Womans Death Sentence The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 7-0 Monday against commuting the death sentence of Womens Death Row inmate Francis Newton, 40, whos scheduled to die by injection Wednesday for the murders of her husband and 2 children 18 years ago. The vote came hours after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to halt the execution. Newtons attorneys have appeals pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Newton would be only the 3rd woman and the 1st black woman executed in Texas since executions resumed in 1982. (source: KWTX News) MISSISSIPPI: State's Only Woman On Death Row Wants New TrialPetition Claims New Evidence The only woman on Mississippi's death row is seeking a new trial before the Supreme Court. Michelle Byrom appeal is among dozens the Supreme Court will decide based on written briefs submitted by attorneys. Byrom is back before the court on a post-conviction petition. Inmates use the petitions to claim they have discovered new evidence that would justify a new trial. The state Supreme Court upheld Byrom's conviction and death sentence in 2003. A Tishomingo County judge turned down her post-conviction petition last year. Byrom was convicted in 2000 of killing her husband of 20 years and recruiting her son in the plot. In a rare move at her 2000 trial, Michelle Byrom asked Circuit Judge Thomas Gardner -- instead of the jury -- to decide whether she should serve life in prison or be put to death. Gardner sentenced her to death. Prosecutors said Byrom killed her husband for money. Defense attorneys argued she had been physically abused as a child and by her husband. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 12 INDIA: Rape case: HC reverses death sentenceAcquits man who was accused of murdering, then having sex with body of a 6-year-old The Gujarat High Court on Monday reversed a capital punishment order by the trial court and acquitted a man charged of murdering a minor girl. Kishan Marwari, accused of murdering, then raping 6-year-old Gomi Marwari has been set free by the high court on the grounds that the prosecution has failed to establish a complete chain of evidence and they have been unable to prove that the case can be deemed "rarest of rare case." On August 18, 2004 city sessions judge Z K Sayyed had ordered the death penalty, observing, "A person who carried out such a heinous and devilish deed had no right to live in the society." Divison bench of Justice A Dave and Justice M D Shah said that the facts and circumstances were re-appreciated during the appeal filed by the accused and the death penalty ordered by the trial court has been set aside. The written order is pending in the matter. Appearing on behalf of the accused, advocate B M Supehia requested the court to admit the appeal as there were several loopholes in the investigation. According to the prosecution, Kishan, a native of Rajasthan, is a distant relative of the victim. He was unemployed and was living with his sisters family in Gulbhai Tekra slums when the incident took place. Kishan, allegedly, lured Gomi by offering her sweets and took her to an isolated place. He, allegedly, smashed the girls head with a heavy stone, chopped off her legs to remove her anklets and had sex with the body. However, the defence counsel said that in the absence of an eye-witness, the prosecution used circumstantial evidence, missing vital facts. Supehia said that the investigating officials failed to conduct the medical test of the accused. "Though they submitted the victims medical report, they have no evidence to prove that Kishan had sex with the body of the girl," he said. Terming it an incomplete investigation, Supehia said the officials had not conducted an identification parade even though there were two persons who had seen Marwari immediately before and after the crime was committed. "According to the police, Marwari and Gomi had stopped at a roadside dabeli vendor after committing the heinous crime. Kishan also reportedly sold the anklets to a jeweller. The vendors statement was recorded and a bill from the jewellers shop was produced before the court. The date of the bill was missing," said Supehia, adding, "The bill carried a thumb impression. Kishan is literate. He would have signed it." Supehia said, "The police recovered a blood-stained shirt, a duppatta and a blanket from the crime scene. Yet, they only sent the shirt for medical examination." The advocate contended that the criminal complaint was lodged by the victim's uncle Radhe Narayan, who claimed that the shirt belonged to Kishan. "Narayan admitted that he never saw Kishan on the day of the incident. How did he recognise the shirt?" Supehia argued before the court. Glaring procedural lapses have been found during investigation, said Supehia. "It is proved that evidence collected by the police was not examined thoroughly," he added. Additional public prosecutor Sudhansu Mehta said there is ample evidence to prove that Kishan is guilty and there is no doubt that the accused had committed a barbaric offence. Mehta said he will file a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court order. Meanwhile, the victim's parents Laliben and Kishen Velbhai have moved out of the slums at Gulbai Tekra to Narol. (source: Ahmedabad Newsline)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----KAN., TEXAS
Sept. 12 KANSAS: Jury recommends death penalty for Cheatham A Shawnee County jury today decided that Phillip Cheatham should be put to death for the slayings of 2 women in shootings that left a third surviving woman riddled with bullet wounds. Cheatham, 32, was found guilty Thursday of 1 count of capital murder, two counts of 1st-degree murder, and 1 count of attempted 1st-degree murder. The convictions stem from Dec. 13, 2003, when 2 men sprayed a southeast Topeka duplex with bullets, leaving Annette Roberson and Gloria Jones dead. Annetta Thomas survived with 19 bullet wounds. Cheatham had acknowledged dealing drugs and a previous voluntary manslaughter conviction, but denied involvement in the Topeka murders. District Attorney Robert Hecht praised jurors with such words as "deliberate" and "thoughtful" as they considered the evidence and weighed the life and death decision. More, he said, must be done to put an end to illegal drug use. "This is not the first, nor will it be the last multiple murder experienced in this community unless and until greater success is achieved in combating the scourge of illegal drug activity," he said in a release. (source: Capital-Journal) TEXAS: Katrina-Displaced Lawyers Get Court's OK to Practice in Texas As hundreds of displaced Louisiana lawyers stream across the state line into Texas to rebuild their practices and lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the last thing they need is the Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee breathing down their necks. UPLC officials and the State Bar of Texas realize that. So leaders from both groups recently consulted with the Texas Supreme Court about how to handle the influx of out-of-state lawyers into the Lone Star State. On Sept. 2, the high court quickly issued a one-paragraph order that allows displaced lawyers holding law licenses from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to practice in Texas for a period of 30 days without fear of reprisal from the UPLC. "Normally a lawyer who's not licensed in Texas who comes into Texas to practice would need to be licensed," says Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright, who serves as the court's liaison to the State Bar of Texas. "But the order suspends that." "What we're doing is helping people who have been affected by an incredible disaster and at the same time keeping an eye on the integrity of the bar as well," Wainwright says. The order is a temporary measure at best. Many of the 7,500 lawyers who've left New Orleans expect that it will be months before they can return to their offices; the city is expected to be without electricity or water services for a long time. Carolyn Dineen King, chief judge of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has said the same thing. On Sept. 2 she announced that her court was relocating operations to the Bob Casey U.S. Courthouse in Houston for now. UPLC and Bar officials anticipate that the Texas Supreme Court will need to revisit licensing issues for out-of-state attorneys displaced by the hurricane within the coming weeks. "To the extent that they're evacuated over here and are trying by phone or fax to contact clients and to address their caseload ... that doesn't give me much problem at all," says Rodney Gilstrap, chairman of the UPLC and a partner in Marshall's Smith & Gilstrap. But other concerns will arise the longer displaced lawyers stay in Texas, Gilstrap says. "If they remain in Texas over a longer period of time, then there's the likelihood that someone down the street is going to say, 'I got a speeding ticket. Can you represent me?' That's going to happen," Gilstrap says. "I don't view it as an immediate problem." Other southern states are making plans to temporarily suspend bar licensing requirements, says Kelly Frels, chairman of the State Bar of Texas' Katrina Relief Task Force and a partner in Houston's Bracewell & Giuliani. In the meantime, Frels say the State Bar is answering other basic questions from displaced lawyers beyond helping them find office and living space. "We've had questions such as, 'What should I put on my Web site about where I am?' " Frels says. "And we've told them to say that they are 'temporarily practicing in Texas' so that they're not advertising that they're Texas lawyers." The State Bar has specific and complicated rules that govern lawyers who advertise in Texas. But Frels expects that the term "temporarily practicing in Texas" will become an increasingly inaccurate moniker as months pass. "It looks like it's going to be a long-term situation for many people. And I suspect some lawyers are going to stay here," Frels says. "And it's an issue for the Board of Law Examiners to look at down the road." HERE TO STAY? Julia Vaughan, executive director of the Board of Law Examiners, says the board has called a special meeting for Sept. 16 to address those very questions. Texas has a fairly liberal reciprocity policy that allows experienced attorneys
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----TEXAS
NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director 202-543-9577, ext. 16 dell...@ncadp.org www.ncadp.org Rick Halperin, TCADP President 214-768-3284 rhalp...@mail.smu.edu www.tcadp.org ** CITING UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS, NCADP URGES TEXAS OFFICIALS TO COMMUTE FRANCES NEWTON'S DEATH SENTENCE Frances Newton, out of Harris County, where Houston is located, would be first African American woman to be executed in modern Texas history Sept. 12, 2005 - The state of Texas is prepared to carry out the first execution of an African American woman in modern state history, despite resounding questions of whether she is guilty and whether she received a fair trial. Frances Newton faces execution Sept. 14 for the murder of her husband, Adrian Newton, and her children, Alton and Farah Newton in Harris County. Forensics evidence used to convict Newton is highly questionable and a test at the crime scene concluded that the Newton had not fired a weapon the night her husband and children were shot to death. This test, called an atomic absorption test, was conducted just hours after the shootings and found that there was no gunpowder residue present. Newton's lawyers argue that even if Newton had washed her hands after the crime, it would have been impossible to remove all gunpowder residue. "There is substantial doubt that Frances Newton committed the crimes for which she has been sentenced to death," said Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "No court has considered issues relating to her conviction on its merits, nor were many of them addressed by the jury that convicted Newton. Rust-Tierney added that Newton's conviction was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, and that testing of her hands shortly after the murders took place showed she had not fired a weapon. "Public confidence in the criminal justice system is eroded when sentences are carried out despite doubts about guilt," she said. "For this reason, we call on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry to commute this sentence." Rick Halperin, president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, an NCADP affiliate, said Newton's case "embodies the core problems with the death penalty in Texas." "She has a strong innocence claim, her trial counsel was egregiously incompetent, and her conviction rested in large part on the results of ballistics testing conducted by the now-discredited Houston Police Department's crime lab," Halperin said. "This sentence must not be carried out." Newton joins a growing list of people on death row from Harris County who have raised questions about forensic testing used in their convictions. This list includes: Nanon Williams. Williams was convicted and sentenced to death despite the fact that a Houston Police Department firearms examiner misidentified the type of gun used in the commission of a murder. Williams did not own the type of gun that was used. Johnnie Bernal. A HPD firearms examiner deviated from professional norms of ballistics examination by firing 25 test-fires rather than the customary two or three, and even applied a solution to the barrel of the gun mid-test in an effort to obtain a ballistics match. Anibal Rousseau. Rousseau was sentenced to death despite the fact that a file, located by Rousseau's habeas counsel 12 years after Rousseau arrived on death row, revealed exculpatory ballistics evidence in the possession of HPD and the Harris County district attorney's office. Williams and Bernal are no longer on death row because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring the execution of juvenile offenders. They remain incarcerated despite questions surrounding their guilt. Rousseau remains on death row. NCADP and TCADP are urging people to take action to oppose Newton's execution by visiting NCADP's Action Center at: http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY= 1132
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 12 RWANDA: 'Genocide' priest faces death penalty A Belgian missionary has been charged with inciting and helping plan the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which more than half a million people were killed. A Rwandan gacaca, or community court, initially heard the charges but referred the case of Guy Theunis, 60, to a conventional court after classifying him as a category-one genocide suspect - reserved for alleged leaders of the 100-day slaughter. Father Theunis now faces a possible death penalty. The Missionaries of Africa priest insisted that information supplied to back the charges was false. Father Theunis, who worked as the editor of Rwandan magazine Le Dialogue, denied allegations that he incited the genocide by reproducing articles from the Kangura, a newspaper that promoted the killing of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority. A UN tribunal has convicted the editor of that newspaper, Hassan Ngeze, and sentenced him to life in prison. "I am astonished to hear all these allegations levelled against me. I sometimes wrote articles to press for human rights. I never republished articles from Kangura, but just translated as part of a press review," Father Theunis told the court in Rwanda's national language, Kinyarwanda. Father Theunis worked in Rwanda from 1970 to 1994, when Tutsis and political moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered in a 100-day genocide orchestrated by the extremist Hutu government of the day. The missionary, who has been living in South Africa since 1994, was arrested on September 6 while travelling through Rwanda's capital, Kigali, from neighbouring Congo. Some genocide survivors were harsh in their accusations against Father Theunis, who was clad in the pink shirt and shorts worn by prisoners in Rwanda. "Instead of preaching the gospel, the missionary was preaching divisions" between Tutsis and Hutus, witness Jean Damascene Bizimana told the court. "I personally met with the missionary and he told me that if the Tutsis don't stop the war (that raged before the genocide was unleashed), many more of them are likely to die." Father Theunis was the 1st foreigner to appear before the community courts, which were set up to investigate and try more than 760,000 people suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide. People accused of leading the genocide are tried in the conventional justice system, where they face stiffer penalties. Lesser charges would call for a trial at a gacaca court. (source: The Australian) ENGLAND: Hangman's colourful life for the big screen Lottery cash for film on fast executioner HE still holds the record for the fastest hanging on record - only 7 seconds - and as Britain's Chief Executioner Albert Pierrepoint was by far the most prolific hangman of the 20th century. In a working life that involved running a pub and being paid 15 per execution, he saw off an estimated 433 men and 17 women, among them the traitor Lord Haw-Haw, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, Ruth Ellis, and innocent man Timothy Evans. Now the colourful life of Pierrepoint - whose father and uncle had been hangmen before him - is to be turned into a film, The Last Hangman, with Timothy Spall in the main role. Pierrepoint lived in Clayton, Bradford. In office between 1932 and 1956, he once hanged 27 people in less than 24 hours for war crimes in Germany and is credited with executing 200 Nazis, including the Beast of Belsen, Josef Kramer, and several sadistic women who had been concentration camp guards. He was handpicked for the job by Field Marshall Montgomery and became a reluctant minor celebrity. His 1st execution as Number 1 hangman was that of gangster Antonio "Babe" Mancini in October 1941, who said "Cheerio!" before the trap was sprung. A man who prided himself on his professionalism, Pierrepoint demonstrated his no-nonsense approach in 1951 at Strangeways when James Inglis was led from his cell to meet his maker just 7 seconds later. He was said to be committed to his work and sought the most humane and dignified means in ending lives. His other job was as landlord of the strangely-named (and now demolished) Help The Poor Struggler pub in Oldham - the setting of an encounter which bizarrely led to Pierrepoint executing one of his own regulars. One night pub regular James Corbitt and Pierrepoint sang Danny Boy as a duet. Corbitt, a friendly man given to singing, would always come in with the greeting "Hello, Tosh", to which the landlord would reply "Hello, Tish". Later that night Corbitt murdered his girlfriend in a jealous rage because she would not give up a second boyfriend she had. 3 months later it was Pierrepoint's job to hang Corbitt at Strangeways. The condemned man worried that his old friend wouldn't talk to him but when Pierrepoint entered his cell, the pair greeted one another with "Hello, Tish" and so on. Later, Pierrepoint wrote: "He relaxed at that and breathed in cheerfully. I gently took his arms and strapped them
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
URGENT ACTION APPEAL 12 September 2005 UA 235/05 Imminent execution IRAN: Abu Baker Mirza'i Qaderi (m) Othman Mirza'i Qaderi (m) Qader Ahmadi (m) Jahangir Badouzadeh (m) The four Kurdish men named above are all reportedly facing imminent execution. They are held in Oromiye Prison, in western Iran. The first three men, from Bokan in West Azerbaijan province, are apparently accused of working for a Kurdish opposition group, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). They are thought to have been part of a group of Iranian soldiers who were captured by the KDPI in 1984 and later released because they were Kurds. They went into hiding shortly afterwards, but apparently returned to their home town of Bokan earlier this year. The fact that the KDPI released them is said to have raised the authorities' suspicions that they had become involved with the organization, and has now led, 21 years later, to their arrest. There are unconfirmed reports that a fourth Kurd held in Oromiye Prison, Jahangir Badouzadeh, is also be facing imminent execution. It is not known what he has been convicted of. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The KDPI seeks the ''establishment of a democratic federal Iran and the attainment of Kurdish national rights in Iranian Kurdistan'', and states that it Arejects all acts of terrorism and...planting bombs in public places.@ Unrest broke out in the Kurdish areas of Iran following the July 2005 killing of a Kurdish opposition activist, Shivan Qaderi. It has led to scores of deaths, and mass arrests of Kurds, including human rights defenders. On 3 September, Esma'il Mohammadi, a Kurd accused of activities on behalf of a banned Kurdish political party, Komala, was executed in Oromiye Prison (for details: UA 236/03 issued 8 August 2003 and follow-ups). Another Kurd, Mohammad Panjavini, was also reportedly executed at the same time, apparently for his activities on behalf of another Kurdish group called Agri Soor. Amnesty International fears that the Iranian authorities may be stepping up the execution of imprisoned Kurdish opposition activists in response to the recent unrest. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing grave concern that the four men (naming them) may be at risk of imminent execution; - urging the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to commute the men's death sentences; - asking for details of the men's trial proceedings, including the specific charges against them, whether they have been granted access to independent lawyers of their choice, and whether they have been allowed to appeal against their convictions and sentences, as required by Article 14 (5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. APPEALS TO: (Please note that email servers in Iran are unreliable. If your message bounces, please resend it, regardless of the reason given) Leader of the Islamic Republic: His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei The Presidency Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880 (mark 'For the attention of the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom') Email: i...@wilayah.org, webmas...@wilayah.org (on the subject line write: For the attention of the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei, Qom) Salutation: Your Excellency Head of the Judiciary: His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Ministry of Justice Park-e Shahr Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: ir...@iranjudiciary.org (mark 'Please forward to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi') Salutation: Your Excellency COPIES TO: Speaker of Parliament: Gholamali Haddad Adel Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami (Parliament) Imam Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: 011 98 21 646 1746 Salutation: Dear Sir Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country. Instead, please send copies to: Iranian Interests Section 2209 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC 20007 Phone: 202 965 4990 Fax: 202 965 1073 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after October 24, 2005. 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: u...@aiusa.org http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 303 258 1170 Fax: 303 258 7881 -- END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL -- ** URGENT ACTION APPEAL 12 September 2005 UA 236//05 Death Penalty/Fear of Imminent Execution IRAN Mehdi Gharib Khanian Ghamroudi (m), aged about 22 Mehdi Gharib Khanian Ghamroudi is
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 12 PHILIPPINES: 24 OFWs on death row for various crimes--DFA APART from a Filipina maid in Singapore who faces death by hanging if she is convicted for the murder of a compatriot, at least 24 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are on death row for various crimes, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday. In an interview with INQ7.net, Pedro Chan, executive director of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, said most of the 24 death-row inmates are in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. He said those in Saudi Arabia face capital punishment for murder, while those in Malaysia face the death penalty for drug-related cases. Chan also said that of the seven million Filipinos overseas, his office is handling some 25,000 assistance-to-nationals cases at the moment, including those that involve crimes and capital punishment. "These figures are relatively low if you compare for example with the crime rate in Metro Manila. Of course, [OFWs] are more behaved when they are outside the country. When you have 7 million people, these incidents are bound to happen. "[The OFWs] stand out only because the cases usually involve both Filipino victims and Filipino perpetrators, and because they happen outside the country," he said. At the same time, DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said funds have already been released for the hiring of two Singapore-based lawyers, 1 each for suspect Guen Garlejo Aguilar and for victim Jane Parangan La Puebla. Asuque said Philippine embassy officials have already talked to Aguilar but only about "general things" as Singapore police officials have advised them against discussing the case. "The right to remain silent and the right against self-incrimination are really honored there as requirement of the law," he said. (source: INQ7 News)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news---TEXAS, N.Y., OHIO
Sept. 12 TEXASimpending female execution Does she deserve to die? Well, her trial lawyer doesn't know Maybe Frances Newton shot her husband and two children to death in 1987. Maybe she didn't. The public cannot be certain of her guilt, but she's going to die for the crime anyway. Newton was denied a basic requirement for a fair trial - a competent lawyer. Her attorney at trial was the notorious Ron Mock, whose shoddy work in capital murder trials is well known in legal circles. He has been repeatedly disciplined by the State Bar of Texas, and has since been disqualified from handling capital cases. No less than 16 people whom Mock represented were sent to death row. Mock apparently did no investigation of Newton's claims of innocence. When asked by a trial judge, he could not name a single witness he had interviewed on Newton's behalf. How many times must this scene be repeated before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state Board of Pardons and Parole or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes in death sentences won on defense incompetence? A competent lawyer should be provided for defendants facing the death penalty. The rule of thumb in Texas seems to be that only those who can afford a competent lawyer are entitled to one. Newton couldn't afford a good lawyer, so the state appointed Mock to represent her. She is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday despite plenty of doubt her new lawyers have raised regarding the triple murder for which she was convicted. Tom and Virginia Louis, the parents of the man Newton was convicted of killing, have their doubts. "We are the parents of Adrian Newton and the grandparents of Alton and Farrah Newton . . . We were willing to testify on Frances' behalf, but Frances' defense lawyer never approached us," they said in a letter to the Board of Pardons and Parole asking for leniency. Indigent defendants must rely on the state system. The state's court-appointed lawyer system has improved significantly in the past five years because of legislation aimed at weeding out incompetent lawyers and recruiting better lawyers for people who can't afford to hire their own. The 2001 Texas Fair Defense Act does set minimum requirements for attorneys representing capital murder defendants. (The emphasis is on "minimum.") But those who were convicted before 2001 were under a system that declared any lawyer with a pulse and law license competent. That included lawyers who slept during trial or were doped up as they prepared for trial. It included lawyers who did little or no investigation. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refuses to hear any new evidence or facts in Newton's case - and many others like it - because those facts were raised after court deadlines expired. And that's the rub. The state appeals court is not deciding Newton's case based on the merits of new facts or legal issues. It has rejected her appeal because she missed a deadline. We've said it before, but it's worth repeating: Race, ethnicity, income and geography are all factors in the imposition of death sentences. As long as Texas has a death penalty, capital defendants should have access to competent legal counsel. Newton didn't get that. For that reason, she should be spared. (source: Editorial, Austin American-Statesman) ** Death penalty the topic of program A local church will stage a program on the death penalty next week. The Second Wednesday program sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Galveston County will feature "The Empty Chair," a 42-minute documentary examining the aftermath of murder. The program looks at the families left behind, their lives torn apart by the random loss of a loved one. The film was made by Jacqui Lofaro and Victor Teich, partners in the documentary film company, Justice Productions. Five years in the making, the film debuted at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2003 and was later invited to screen at the Vermont International Human Rights Film Festival. The 90-minute program will also feature music by Tony DiNuzzo, president of the fellowship. 3 decades after sentencing guidelines were approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, the death penalty is still being unpredictably applied to a small number of defendants, according to findings of the Death Penalty Information Center. An investigation by seven Indiana newspapers in 2001 found that the death penalty depended on factors such as the views of individual prosecutors and the financial resources of the county. 2 Indiana counties have produced almost as many death sentences as all of the other Indiana counties combined. According to the center, about one in four death row inmates in Texas was defended by a lawyer who has been reprimanded, placed on probation, suspended or banned by the state bar from practicing law. The program will be followed by coffee and conversation. +++ What: "The Empty Chair," a discussion of the death penalty. When: 7 p
