Winter 2003 Issue 3

State of GRACE

Gulf Region Advocacy Center (713) 869-4722

GRACE to Accept Matching Funds in ‘04 Special Announcements: Bucking the recent trend among Law) helps fund a variety of programs • GRACE is the recipient presidential front-runners, GRACE has dedicated to surmounting barriers to of Equal Justice Works decided to accept matching funds in the equal justice that affect millions of Grant upcoming year. The decision stems low-income individuals and families. from the news that Equal Justice Works • We are growing—4 new has approved our proposal for a two- To receive the grant, GRACE must interns and 3 new staff year fellowship to launch the Harris secure pledges totaling $56,000, the

County Capital Pre-Trial Project. This amount equal to half the cost of a two-

initiative has been designed to improve year fellowship, in matching funds by the preparation and litigation that March 1, 2004. The donations are tax- occurs before capital trials in Harris deductible. For more information on County. The Project will assist how you can help,….. attorneys with record collection and the filing of pre-trial motions to safeguard the rights of Houstonians put on trial for Individual their lives. Highlights: For example…(something about Equal Justice Works litigating regarding the lab) Grant 1

Fall From GRACE 1 The Project will also develop systemic litigation to address the biases that are Intern and Staff News 2 often too costly or complex for defense counsel to litigate. This type of Upcoming Arguments litigation has helped improve practices In the World Court 3 in Louisiana and elsewhere across the Spanish Film Crew 3 country.

Equal Justice Works (formerly the Update on Calvin 4 Burdine National Association for Public Interest

Mitigation Steering Committee 4 Fall From GRACE Special Thanks 4 This season’s Fall From Grace award goes It is a disturbingly fitting observance for to the Texas Department of Criminal a state that continues to disregard the Justice for its observance of International world community’s opinion that the Human Rights Day on December 10. death penalty violates fundamental human rights. The retention of the While cities around the world celebrate death penalty puts the United States in International Human Rights Day, a class of countries that it routinely th commemorating the 55 anniversary of the criticizes for human rights violations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the including China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Saudi state of Texas plans to execute Billy Arabia, and Syria. No western European Vickers, Kevin Zimmerman and Bobby Hines countries currently retain the death th th th on December 9 , 10 and 11 . penalty.

Page 2 State of GRACE

Intern and Staff News

Sophie (not pictured) is from Melbourne, Australia. She has been at GRACE since mid-November. She is currently studying law at Monash University.

Pep is from Mallorca, Spain and went to Law School in Barcelona where he graduated in July 2003. Pep first encountered the American legal system in 2002 as an exchange student attending Tulane Law School, New Orleans for a semester. Reid is from the ever-exotic Dallas, Texas but after four years at the University of Texas considers Austin his hometown. His indecision led to degrees in history, government and philosophy, and he hopes to be at GRACE for quite awhile. Dinner at the Intern House. Seated L to R: Alica Orozes, Randi Laura came to GRACE as a summer Chavez, Pep Buades, William Belford, Laura Rogers. Standing: Reid intern, but has decided to stay on as Pillifant and LCAC intern Ashley Halphen. full-time staff before pursuing law school. Laura majored in women’s GRACE has changed its personnel studies at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia before coming to considerably since the last newsletter. GRACE. We have added four interns and three staff. Gail (not pictured) is our newest addition to the full-time staff. She is a Pep Buades and Alicia Ozores became native Houstonian, but would someday the first Spanish REPRIEVE interns to like to reside in Tennessee. grace our shores. We have also been joined by Sophie Williams from Reprieve Randi was introduced in the last Australia and William Belford from newsletter, but we’re proud to Reprieve UK. announce that she passed her licensing exam with flying colors and now has a Alicia is from Barcelona, Spain. She few more letters following her name. studied law at ESADE, Faculty of law. She insists that the entire office always She is an attorney in Barcelona and refer to her as Randi Wall Chavez, would like to specialize in criminal law. LMSW. Alicia has been at GRACE since the beginning of October and she will leave us around Christmas. William is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Before joining us at GRACE, he completed a degree in…at Cambridge University. William will be with us for several more months and plans to pursue a degree in law when he returns. State of GRACE Page 3

Upcoming Arguments in the World Court

112 Foreign nationals on In January of this year, the World Court from the Mexican consulate after his at The Hague ruled that the United 1988 arrest. death row in the U.S. States should delay the execution of three Mexican nationals facing the One of the three Mexican nationals 51 Mexican nationals on death penalty in the U.S. while the identified as most immediately death row in the U.S. Court investigates whether the more threatened by the state of Texas is than 50 Mexicans on death row in Osbaldo Torres. Torres was 18 when he America were denied the right to timely 25 Foreign nationals on was arrested in Oklahoma City and consular notification. Mexico’s foreign charged with capital murder. Mexican death row in Texas relations department alleges that officials were never contacted at any municipal and state governments in the point in the proceedings against 8 Foreign nationals United States have violated the 1963 Osbaldo, not even when his first trial executed in Texas since Vienna Convention of Consular ended in a dead-locked jury. Osbaldo’s Relations, which mandates that 1993, the most of any state family notified the Mexican government detained foreign nationals be notified after his second trial ended in a death in the U.S. that they have the right to legal sentence. Currently, social worker assistance from their home countries. Randi Chavez is in Oklahoma City working on this case. The issue has been a contentious one between the two countries; Mexican A weeklong hearing to discuss the President Vicente Fox canceled a violations of the Vienna Convection in meeting with President Bush in 2002 the World Court has been scheduled for after Bush refused to pardon Javier date. Suarez Medina, a Mexican national who was never told he could obtain help

Spanish Film Crew Visits GRACE

In November, we were visited by Spanish filmmakers Grau Serra and Roger Sogues. Grau and Roger are part of Milana Bonita, an independent film company in Barcelona. They are making a documentary called “Hopes and Fears” about the work that interns from Reprieve Espana are doing in Houston, Texas. They spent about ten days in Houston filming at GRACE, the Harris County courthouse, and the County Jail. Plans are for the documentary to be shown next year at various film festivals in Spain, and for an abbreviated version to air on Film star and GRACE intern Alicia Ozares, showing Spanish television. she’s not too famous to carry a few tripods. Page 4 State of GRACE

Update on Calvin Burdine

In our last newsletter, we wrote parole “eligibility” on a life sentence that Calvin Burdine’s “sleeping lawyer” after 20 years. Currently, one case had been put to rest, but we were sentenced to life for a capital crime is wrong. In October, the Texas Court of eligible only after 40 years. The District Criminal Appeals rejected Harris County Attorney’s office mistakenly believed prosecutors’ legal brief attempting to that the three life sentences Calvin prevent the Texas Department of accepted in his plea would keep him Criminal Justice from classifying Calvin ineligible for parole until he had served as eligible for parole. 60 years. … Because the State of Texas held While Calvin is eligible for Calvin for 20 years on an illegal parole, it will be the Texas Board of conviction and sentence before finally Pardons and Paroles, who has never being forced to provide him some paroled anyone convicted of capital semblance of justice, the plea he murder, who will decide whether or not entered in 2003 was governed by the Calvin will go free. law in effect in 1983. That law allowed

Update on Mitigation Steering Committee

GRACE has joined with a team of mitigation specialists in Texas, where mitigation experts from around the mitigating factors have often been “A mitigation specialist is country to improve the quality of excluded by the courts. mitigation investigation in Texas, and By working with some of the most an indispensable member eventually across the nation. experienced mitigation specialists in the of the defense team Comprehensive mitigation investigations country, GRACE hopes to raise the bar throughout all capital compile the life history of a defendant, for mitigation investigations by helping to put crimes that often seem developing a training curriculum for proceedings .” capricious into an understandable investigators, to be used in Texas and American Bar Association context. The Supreme Court recently then exported to other states. GRACE is ruled that mitigation is an indispensable awaiting word from the TIDES part of a capital trial. This decision has Foundation regarding funding for this created a need for well-trained project.

GRACE www.gracelaw.org Special Thanks Thanks to Steve Bright and the Southern 809 Henderson St. Center for Human Rights for their Houston, Texas 77007 generous donation. Thanks to the American Bar Association Phone for funding trips to the Federal Habeas (713) 869-4722 Seminar in Chicago, Illinois and the Making the Case for Life Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. Fax (713) 880-3811

E-mail [email protected]