TCADP Annual Award Winners Announced Impending Executions

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

TCADP Annual Award Winners Announced Impending Executions 2009 U.S. Executions Texas 24 Alabama 6 Ohio 5 Georgia 3 Oklahoma 3 Virginia 3 Florida 2 South Carolina 2 Tennessee 2 Montana 1 TEXASCOALITIONTOA BOLISHTHEDEATHPENALTY Indiana 1 WORKINGTHROUGHEDUC ATIONANDACTION W I N T E R 2 0 1 0 Total 52 Inside This Issue: TCADP Annual Award Winners Announced From the 2 We are delighted to announce the recipients of TCADP's Annual Awards. The Executive Director awards will be presented during the 2010 TCADP Annual Conference: "Seizing the Momentum: Building Capacity, Community, and Coalition" to be held at Highland Park Annual Report 3 United Methodist Church, Saturday, February 20, 2010, in Dallas, TX. Speaker’s Tour 4 Look for more information about the conference on the color insert in this newsletter and Annual Conference insert on the TCADP website (www.tcadp.org) and join us in celebrating this year's winners: Chapter News/ 5-6 Courage Award - Judge Charlie Baird Calendar Judge Charlie Baird has demonstrated a constant and courageous opposition to the death penalty; he consistently worked for justice while serving on the Texas Court of Thank You! 7 Criminal Appeals (1990-1998). Registration Form 8 Courage Award - Father Mark Miller and the TCADP Odessa Chapter Father Mark Miller, Rev. Gene Collins, Rev. David Mossbarger, and Rev. Roy Gentry have demonstrated great courage in establishing a new TCADP chapter in Odessa. Impending Media Award - David Grann, Staff Writer, The New Yorker David Grann's in-depth investigation of the Cameron Todd Willingham case and subse- Executions quent article - "Trial by Fire: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?" explored the case in Impending Executions its entirety and debunked all of the evidence used to convict/sentence Willingham to Please note that dates are tentative. September death. 9/05 Tony Roach #404 9/13January Joseph Lave #405 9/20 Clifford Kimmel #406 Appreciation Award - Ron Carlson 9/25 Michael Richards #407 9/277 Carlton Turner #408 Kenneth Mosley Ron Carlson is being recognized for his work with TCADP during the 81st Legislative October 10/3 Heliberto Chi #409 Session. His testimony from the perspective of a murder victims' family member was January12 2008 Gary Johnson particularly compelling to legislators. 1/24 Denard Manns #410 PleaseFebruary note that the numbers are for Texas Executions since 1982 and subject to change. Appreciation Award - Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin 24 Hank Skinner For more than 10 years, the Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin has demonstrated its unwavering support for TCADP by providing, without charge, facilities for the coalition March to hold its quarterly board meetings, as well as many Austin Chapter meetings, and vari- ous other training sessions. 2 Michael Sigala 11 Joshua Maxwell Make plans now to join us at the annual meeting in Dallas! Conference registration and hotel reservations are available online through the TCADP website! (Hotel savings 30 Franklin Alix end January 29, and the early conference registration deadline is February 1.) Execution Vigils: Information on exhibiting at the conference and advertising in the conference program is http://www.tcadp.org/ also available through the TCADP office, [email protected], (512) 441-1808, or at index.php?page=vigils www.tcadp.org under the “Conference” button. From the Executive Director Page 2, Winter 2010 Dear TCADP Members and Supporters, I hope you all enjoyed a safe and happy holiday season. We at TCADP are rejuvenated and ready to get to work! I look forward to seeing many of you at the TCADP 2010 Annual Conference, which will take place February 20, 2010 in Dallas. This year’s conference will feature a panel discussion, during which four Texans will share their unique experiences with the death penalty issue. In the afternoon, participants will choose from among an array of workshops aimed at providing the tools and skills necessary for advancing TCADP’s strategic plan at the local level. See the insert for more details and register today! (A registration form can be found on the back page of the newsletter.) In keeping with the theme of our conference – Seizing the Momentum: Building Capacity, Community, and Coalition – TCADP is developing several exciting new programs and initiatives, including five regional trainings aimed at cultivating local leaders and engaging members more closely in the organization’s activities. We will announce the dates and loca- tions of these trainings as details become available – check the website or call the office for updates! We also will be continuing our important work of reaching out to key constituencies, including faith communities, law en- forcement, and murder victim’s family members. At the annual conference and during the regional trainings you’ll have the opportunity to meet Alonzo Peterson, the new Texas/National Organizer for Murder Victims’ Families for Reconcilia- tion. Welcome Alonzo! Read more about this savvy and experienced organizer on page 6. Just days before the conference, on February 17, we will mark the anniversary of the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. The Willingham case has raised serious questions about the reliability and fairness of our state’s death pen- alty system – and about the forensic science that has been used to convict thousands of people in Texas. As you know, the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s inquiry into the Willingham case was significantly derailed this fall, when Governor Rick Perry abruptly replaced several commission members, including the chair, shortly before their scheduled meeting. On November 10, 2009, the new chair of the commission, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, testified before a special hearing of the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee. He told state legislators that the commission must develop new rules before it can proceed with its work. Bradley reportedly plans to convene a meeting in January. He has declined to speculate on how long the rule-making process might take, however, and it re- mains unclear as to when the commission’s investigation of the Willingham case will resume. We cannot allow our concerns about the case of Willingham and so many others to be swept under the rug! TCADP encourages all Texans to take action on the anniversary of Willingham’s execution. Please contact your state legislators that day to express your concerns about the flaws and failures of the death penalty – including its intolerable and irre- versible risk of error. More ideas for action and talking points will be available later this month at www.tcadp.org. SEEKING JUSTICE IN TEXAS 2010 promises to be another significant year in the devel- opment of our organization and in the progress of our Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty movement. We look forward to working with all of you as 2709 S. Lamar, Blvd, Suite 109 Austin, TX 78704 we continue to build on our accomplishments and seize the momentum for abolition! (512) 441-1808, www.tcadp.org In solidarity, Newsletter Editor: Vicki McCuistion, [email protected] Issue #28, Winter 2010 (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) Contributors: Kristin Houlé, Vicki McCuistion, David Atwood, Sylvia Garza Check out the TCADP website! Send your name, address, and phone number with your www.tcadp.org annual membership dues to the TCADP office to receive Would you like to receive TCADP email alerts? quarterly newsletters. All donations are tax-deductible. Look for the “Subscribe” button on the TCADP Thank you! If you are already a member and would like to home page, www.tcadp.org. receive the TCADP newsletter via email, send your name and email address to [email protected]. Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2009: The Year in Review Page 3, Winter 2010 On December 7, 2009 level, however, as prose- Texas juries TCADP held a press con- cutors and juries increas- condemned New Death Sentences ference at the State Capi- ingly accept the alternative nine new indi- tol to release its annual punishment of life in prison viduals to death 28 30 report on death penalty without the possibility of in 2009. This 24 developments in Texas. parole (LWOP) as a reli- represents the 20 14 Published in conjunction able way to punish the lowest number of 11 14 12 with the anniversary of the guilty, protect society, and 9 new death sen- 10 resumption of executions guard against convicting tences since the in Texas in 1982, the re- and executing innocent U.S. Supreme 0 port informs citizens and people. New death sen- Court upheld elected officials about tences have declined 60% Texas’ revised 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 events and issues related in the past six years in death penalty to capital punishment in Texas. statute in 1976. curred in 2009 and included the past year. It presents Unease surrounding the For the second consecu- two Texas cases: Michael information on executions, likely wrongful execution of tive year, Harris County Toney and Robert Spring- stays, and new death sen- Cameron Todd Willingham did not condemn any steen. tences; exonerations; leg- and other evidence of fatal new defendants to death Seven inmates scheduled islative developments; and mistakes has led to waning (juries did return two in- for execution in 2009 re- other issues impacting the confidence in the reliability mates to death row). ceived last-minute stays criminal justice system in of the state’s criminal jus- While Harris County still due to mitigating factors, the nation’s most active tice system. Despite the accounts for a third of all new forensic evidence relat- death penalty state. This shifting death penalty land- Texas inmates awaiting ing to innocence, or the pos- is the third such annual scape in Texas, elected execution (106 of 332), it sibility of mental retardation report published by officials have not yet has sentenced just seven or mental illness.
Recommended publications
  • Necessary Implications of Skinner V. Switzer
    Washington University Journal of Law & Policy Volume 38 Acceess to Justice: Evolving Standards in Juvenile Justice: From Gault to Graham and Beyond January 2012 Ghosts of Innocent Men: Necessary Implications of Skinner v. Switzer Kathryn A. Harrington Washington University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Kathryn A. Harrington, Ghosts of Innocent Men: Necessary Implications of Skinner v. Switzer, 38 WASH. U. J. L. & POL’Y 325 (2012), https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol38/iss1/10 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Journal of Law & Policy by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ghosts of Innocent Men: Necessary Implications of Skinner v. Switzer Kathryn A. Harrington INTRODUCTION Two chicken thighs, a double bacon cheeseburger, fried catfish, onion rings, French fries, a salad with ranch dressing, and a milkshake.1 Forty-seven minutes were left when Hank Skinner‘s last meal was interrupted in dramatic fashion.2 The Supreme Court had issued a stay of execution pending resolution of his petition for certiorari.3 Untested DNA evidence exists, and questions about Skinner‘s guilt in a 1993 New Year‘s Eve triple murder remain.4 In J.D. Candidate (2012), Washington University Law School; B.A., Psychology (2006), Duke University. Special thanks to Lindsay Herf, Attorney/DNA Case Manager at the Arizona Justice Project, to Journal members Matthew Schoonover and Laura Vaughn for their fantastic edits and encouragement, and to Joanne, Neil, Joe, Maggie, and Harry Harrington.
    [Show full text]
  • Irreversible Error
    Copyright © 2014 by The Constitution Project. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Constitution Project. For other information about this report, or any other work of The Constitution Project, please visit our website at www.constitutionproject.org or email us at [email protected]. Cover art designed by Elias Moose THE CONSTITUTION PROJECT STAFF Larry Akey Scott Roehm Director of Communications Senior Counsel, Rule of Law Program Maria Cortina Hispanic Outreach Fellow Virginia E. Sloan President Jennifer Donley Development Coordinator Katherine Stern Senior Counsel, Christopher Durocher Rule of Law Program Government Affairs Counsel Sarah E. Turberville Louis Fisher Senior Counsel, Scholar in Residence Criminal Justice Program Kayla Haran Stephen I. Vladeck Program Assistant Supreme Court Fellow Sarah McLean Brian Yourish Communications Coordinator Office Manager I. Scott Messinger Chief Operating Officer The Constitution Project promotes constitutional rights and values by forging a non-ideological consensus aimed at sound legal interpretations and policy solutions. The Constitution Project | iii Irreversible Error iv | The Constitution Project TABLE OF CONTENTS The Death Penalty Committee .......................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Death Penalty in the United States, a Polymorphous Torture
    999 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES, A POLYMORPHOus TORTURE Ensemble contre 999 la peine de mort THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES, ECPM 3, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier A POLYMORPHOUS TORTURE 92320 Chatillon - France ARNAUD GAILLARD Tel.: +33 (0)1 57 63 03 57 Fax: +33 (0)1 57 63 89 25 www.abolition.fr This mission report was elaborated with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents are the sole responsibility of the author and cannot in any case be con- sidered to reflect the position of the European Union. Analysis & Redaction: Arnaud Gaillard, sociologist specialized in criminal justice issues. Translation: Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner Ensemble Photography: © Arnaud Gaillard contre la peine © ECPM, 2011 de mort ISBN : 978-2-9525533-5-1 Acknowledgements This study was conducted with the assistance of Florent Vassault and Emile Carreau, whom I wish to thank warm-heartedly. They were daily collaborators to complete this fact-finding mission, sharing the many issues that did not fail to arouse during the encounter, sometimes aggressive and violent, with the reality of the death penalty in the United-States. Prior to this mission and throughout the data analysis and drafting, I would like to thank Sandrine Ageorges-Skinner, tireless activist and wife of Hank Skinner sentenced to death, whose insight steadily enriched this analysis. Thank you to Claude Guillaumaud-Pujol, activist, researcher and author specialized in American civilization. Beyond their skills as translators, they accompanied and guided my questions about the death penalty in the United States. Finally thank you to the association Together against the Death Penalty (ECPM) and its team, employees and volunteers, for trusting me and especially for the power of their faith in a universal abolition to come, which must now be achieved.
    [Show full text]
  • 1978, When He Was 27, Manuel Valle Killed a Police Officer in Coral Gables, Flori­ Da
    CJ CJ ....::t • ....::t 0 N r:: U November 2 r,. 20 ( I Issue [0 1978, when he was 27, Manuel Valle killed a police officer in Coral Gables, Flori­ da. In September, when he was 61, Mr. Valle was put to death for his crimes. Shortly before his execution, the Supreme Court refused to stay his execution - with one dissent. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the 33 years Mr. Valle spent on death row amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. "I have little doubt about the cruelty of so long a period of incarceration under sentence of death," Breyer wrote. "The commonly accepted justifications for the death penalty are close to nonexistent in a case such as this one. It is difficult to imagine how an execution following such a long period of incarceration could add significantly to that punishment's deterrent value." His dissent then addressed the variety of reasons for Valle's unusual delay, raising questions about current legal procedures 'and the death penalty. "It might be ar­ gued that Valle, not the State, is responsible for the delays. But Valle replies that more than two decades of delay reflect the State's failure to provide the kind of trial and penalty procedures that the law requires .... It might also be argued that it is not so much the State as it is the numerous procedures that the law demands. But this kind of argument does not automatically justify execution in this case. Ra­ ther the argument may point to a more basic difficulty, namely the difficulty of rec­ onciling the imposition of the death penalty as is currently administered with pro- cedures necessary to assure that the wrong person is not executed." Justice Breyer's dissent reflects valid concerns that the current procedures re­ quired in death penalty cases need reform.
    [Show full text]
  • The Controversy of Clemency and Innocence in America
    California Western Law Review Volume 51 Number 1 Article 5 10-1-2014 The Controversy of Clemency and Innocence in America Sarah Cooper Daniel Gough Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cwlr Recommended Citation Cooper, Sarah and Gough, Daniel (2014) "The Controversy of Clemency and Innocence in America," California Western Law Review: Vol. 51 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cwlr/vol51/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CWSL Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in California Western Law Review by an authorized editor of CWSL Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cooper and Gough: The Controversy of Clemency and Innocence in America +(,1 2 1/,1( Citation: 51 Cal. W. L. Rev. 55 2014 Content downloaded/printed from HeinOnline (http://heinonline.org) Thu Apr 9 14:03:15 2015 -- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at http://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. -- To obtain permission to use this article beyond the scope of your HeinOnline license, please use: https://www.copyright.com/ccc/basicSearch.do? &operation=go&searchType=0 &lastSearch=simple&all=on&titleOrStdNo=0008-1639 Published by CWSL Scholarly Commons, 2014 1 California Western Law Review, Vol. 51 [2014], No. 1, Art. 5 THE CONTROVERSY OF CLEMENCY AND INNOCENCE IN AMERICA SARAH LUCY COOPER* DANIEL GOUGH** INTRODUCTION Clemency has been embedded in the American criminal justice system since America was founded.' Justified under a mixture of retributive, redemptive, and utilitarian principles, 2 "clemency" covers "a variety of mechanisms an executive can use to remit the consequences of a crime," 3 including pardons, commutations of * (Barrister), Senior Lecturer in Law, Centre for American Legal Studies, Birmingham City University.
    [Show full text]
  • The Constitution Project's Death Penalty Committee
    Copyright © 2014 by The Constitution Project. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Constitution Project. For other information about this report, or any other work of The Constitution Project, please visit our website at www.constitutionproject.org or email us at [email protected]. Cover art designed by Elias Moose THE CONSTITUTION PROJECT STAFF Larry Akey Scott Roehm Director of Communications Senior Counsel, Rule of Law Program Maria Cortina Hispanic Outreach Fellow Virginia E. Sloan President Jennifer Donley Development Coordinator Katherine Stern Senior Counsel, Christopher Durocher Rule of Law Program Government Affairs Counsel Sarah E. Turberville Louis Fisher Senior Counsel, Scholar in Residence Criminal Justice Program Kayla Haran Stephen I. Vladeck Program Assistant Supreme Court Fellow Sarah McLean Brian Yourish Communications Coordinator Office Manager I. Scott Messinger Chief Operating Officer The Constitution Project promotes constitutional rights and values by forging a non-ideological consensus aimed at sound legal interpretations and policy solutions. The Constitution Project | iii Irreversible Error iv | The Constitution Project TABLE OF CONTENTS The Death Penalty Committee .......................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER 2 Forensic Evidence and Labs
    CHAPTER 2 Forensic Evidence and Labs Hank Skinner was convicted in 1995 of murdering his longtime girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two grown sons on New Year’s Eve in 1993. Skinner has maintained his innocence, saying that he was passed out on alcohol and drugs that night and awoke to find the family, who lived with him, murdered. DNA testing in November 2012 identified his DNA profile in blood found in multiple places in the house. The testing also found the DNA profile of an unknown male on a knife believed to be used in the crime and on the carpet in the bedroom that the sons shared. A new round of testing conducted in 2013 on a series of hairs, found clutched in Busby’s hand, revealed that one hair belongs to Skinner and that at least two hairs belong to someone related to Busby, but not her or her sons. That evidence is consistent with the defense’s theory that Busby’s uncle may have committed the crime. A key piece of evidence in the crime, a windbreaker stained with blood that was found at the crime scene, was connected to the uncle, who was known to be violent and had previously assaulted Busby. Following a 2012 order by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals requiring testing of remaining evidence, it came to light that the windbreaker had been lost by law enforcement – the windbreaker has never been tested. The Constitution Project | 11 Irreversible Error Recommendation 5. The government should preserve all evidence for at least 60 days after an execution.
    [Show full text]
  • Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: the Year in Review
    Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010 The Year in Review Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty December 2010 Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2010: The Year in Review The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) publishes this annual report to inform citizens and elected officials about issues associated with the death penalty in Texas during the past year. It presents information on new death sentences, executions, and stays; exonerations; legislative developments; and other issues affecting the criminal justice system in the nation’s most active death penalty state. The report is available online at www.tcadp.org/TexasDeathPenaltyDevelopments2010.pdf. Death Sentences Death sentences in Texas have dropped more than 70% since 2003, reaching a historic low in 2010. According to data compiled from news sources and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, juries condemned eight new individuals to death in Texas in 2010.1 This is the lowest number of new death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ revised death penalty statute in 1976. Six counties accounted for the new death row inmates: Brazos; Dallas; New death sentences Harris; Nueces; Rusk2; and Travis. 30 This represents 2% of all Texas counties. While Harris County did 28 20 24 not condemn any new defendants to death in 2008 or 2009, it imposed two 10 14 14 new sentences in 2010. Still, this is a 11 12 9 8 steep departure from the 1990s, 0 when Harris County sent as many as 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 15 people to death row in a year.
    [Show full text]
  • The Innocence Project in Print Benjamin N
    James Lee Woodard 9/30/09 Jerry Lee Evans 10/21/09 Michael Marshall 12/14/09 James Bain 12/17/09 Donald Eugene Gates 12/18/09 Freddie Peacock 2/04/10 Ted Bradford 2/11/10 Curtis Jasper Moore 3/24/10 Anthony Caravella 3/25/10 Frank Sterling 4/28/10 Raymond Towler 5/05/10 Patrick Brown 6/17/10 Douglas Pacyon 6/21/10 Larry Davis 7/14/10 Alan Northrop 7/14/10 Anthony Johnson 9/15/10 William Avery 9/21/10 Maurice Patterson 10/8/10 Michael Anthony Green 10/20/10 John Watkins 12/13/10 Phillip Bivens 12/14/10 Bobby Ray Dixon 12/14/10 Larry Ruffin 12/14/10 Cornelius Dupree 3/03/11 Derrick Williams 4/04/11 Calvin Wayne Cunningham 4/12/11 THE INNOCENCE PROJECT IN PRINT BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW, YESHIVA UNIVERSITY VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1 SUMMER 2011 IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES BOARD OF DIRECTORS A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY..............................................................4 Michelle Adams WHO WILL PROSECUTE THE PROSECUTORS?.......................................9 Laura Arnold STRENGTH IN NUMBERS........................................................................12 Gordon DuGan IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Senator Rodney Ellis Q & A WITH FALSE CONFESSION EXPERT Board Chair RICHARD LEO .................................................................................16 Jason Flom 9 John Grisham Calvin C. Johnson, Jr. DEPARTMENTS Dr. Eric S. Lander LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR..............................................3 Hon. Janet Reno EXONERATION NATION ..........................................................................18 Director Emeritus INNOCENCE PROJECT NEWS..................................................................20 Rossana Rosado Matthew Rothman INNOCENCE BY THE NUMBERS: INEFFECTIVE DEFENSE....................................................................22 Stephen Schulte Board Vice Chair Bonnie Steingart 16 Chief Darrel Stephens Andrew H. Tananbaum, Esq.
    [Show full text]
  • Advocacy Efforts of the Constitution Project in Furtherance of the Committee’S Recommendations
    ADVOCACY EFFORTS OF THE CONSTITUTION PROJECT IN FURTHERANCE OF THE COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS For almost 15 years, The Constitution Project (“TCP”) has tirelessly promoted pragmatic, bipartisan policies before the courts, policymakers, the media and the public. Through our Death Penalty Committee, and through our Clearinghouse on Unlikely Allies for Criminal Justice Reforms (the “Clearinghouse”), we have reached audiences far beyond the “usual suspects” with effective advocacy and education. The Clearinghouse is comprised of Death Penalty Committee members in addition to hundreds of former prosecutors, law enforcement, corrections officials, judges and others whose voices carry particular weight in the debate over reforms to the death penalty, as well as other criminal justice issues. TCP drafts and organizes letters, amicus briefs, advocacy statements and the like for Committee and Clearinghouse members who help us to promote these reforms. What follows are just some examples of this work over that period of time.9 Safeguarding Innocence and Preventing Wrongful Executions The Death Penalty Committee – in this report and in prior reports – has issued a number of recommendations that seek to minimize the risk of wrongful conviction and execution. TCP’s work in this area has sought to prevent the serious miscarriages of justice that could be avoided through adherence to the Committee’s recommendations. Members of the Death Penalty Committee advocated for the reconsideration of Troy Anthony Davis’ conviction and death sentence. In 2009, Committee and Clearinghouse members comprised the 27 former prosecutors and judges who served as amici in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court successfully urging the Court to order an evidentiary hearing to consider new evidence that raised serious doubts as to Davis’ guilt.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Crime Ink: Guest Michael Streed Talks About Sketchcop
    11/26/2016 Women in Crime Ink: Guest Michael Streed talks about SketchCop 0 More Next Blog» Create Blog Sign In ABOUT WCI | FACEBOOK | KINDLE | WIKIPEDIA A B O U T U S T U E S D A Y , O C T O B E R 5 , 2 0 1 0 Guest Michael Streed talks about SketchCop "A blog worth reading" The Wall Street Journal by Andrea Campbell There is so much involved WRITING TODAY with being a forensic artist and it is a small community. Today we have an interview G U E S T C O N T R I B U T O R O R D E R B O O K S B Y W C I with Michael Streed, artist C O N T R I B U T O R S extraordinaire. Q.: Michael, thank you for being my interview guest. Can you tell WCI readers something about your background? Adobe Flash M.: I began my career as a Player is out of ‘street cop’ and retired 31 date. years later as “The SketchCop.” During that time, I worked several investigative assignments that helped me learn a lot about eyewitnesses. It also helped hone my interviewing skills. Shortly after becoming a police officer, I trained as a police composite artist with the WOMEN IN CRIME INK Los Angeles Police Department. My career as a forensic artist CONTRIBUTORS paralleled my work as a police officer and took me throughout the Search country to train with the best forensic artists of that era. I blended my forensic art training with college courses in life drawing and was H O L L Y H U G H E S Custom Search privileged to become trusted to work on some of the country’s worst cases including the torture murder of a DEA agent in Mexico, The C O D E A M B E R A L E R T Baton Rouge Serial Killer, The Samantha Runnion Abduction/Murder and the Anthony Martinez Abduction/Murder.
    [Show full text]
  • No. 76,675 in the COURT of CRIMINAL APPEALS of TEXAS AT
    No. 76,675 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN HENRY W. SKINNER, ) Appellant ) ) v. ) ) ) THE STATE OF TEXAS, ) Appellee ) MOTION FOR STAY OF EXECUTION TO ALLOW MEANINGFUL CONSIDERATION OF APPEAL OF TRIAL COURT’S DENIAL OF MOTION FOR DNA TESTING AND OBJECTION TO TRIAL COURT’S ORDER AS INADEQUATE TO PERMIT A MEANINGFUL APPEAL TO THE HONORABLE JUDGES OF THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS: Appellant HENRY W. SKINNER respectfully moves this Court to stay his execution, set for Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, at 6:00 p.m., in order to preserve its jurisdiction over his appeal of the trial court’s order denying his Third Motion for DNA Testing, entered on November 2, 2011. See Ex parte Lockhart, 868 S.W.2d 346, 347 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (citing Tex. Const., art. V, § 5) (this Court has the power to stay a condemned prisoner’s execution where doing so would “tend to protect this Court’s jurisdiction or enforce a judgment of this Court"); Tex. Code Skinner v. State, No.76,675 Motion for Stay of Execution – Page 1 Crim. Proc. Ann. art 64.05 (Vernon 2006 & Supp. 2011) (giving this Court jurisdiction to review a lower court's denial of a request for post-conviction DNA testing). A stay of execution is necessary, as set forth below, because the parties cannot meaningfully brief—and this Court cannot fully, fairly, and reliably adjudicate—the important issues presented by this appeal in the very short time that remains before the State intends to put Mr. Skinner to death.
    [Show full text]