THE BLOWBACK FILES
Date: Aug 20, 2007 12:52 AM
Subject: Save Kenneth Foster - act now !!!!!!
Body: Dear The Coalition for Truth and Justice,
Thank you very much to the almost 2,500 people who have written each
of the Texas legislators about Kenneth Foster since we sent out the
alert on Aug 8! Kenneth's execution can only be stopped if there is
a large enough public outcry.
Now, we need people who live in Texas to follow-up with phone calls
to the offices of their state representative and state senator. It
is vital that the legislators hear on the phone from their own constituents.
Please act today. The execution is scheduled for Aug 30. The Board
of Pardons and Paroles will announce its decision by Aug 28. We want
to get the clemency letter from the legislators to the Board and Governor
by this Thursday.
We are hoping to be able to get as many legislators as possible to
sign on to a letter this week asking Governor Perry and the Texas
Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant Kenneth Foster clemency.
Legislators can not directly stop an execution, but they can use
their influence and access to Governor Perry to influence his decision
and they can write a clemency letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
So, please, if you live in Texas, go here and look up your state representative
and state senator. Call them on the phone, identify yourself as a
constituent, say you do not think that Texas should execute Kenneth
Foster, who everyone agrees did not kill anyone or intend anyone to
be killed.
Ask them to sign on to a clemency letter or to write one of their
own. You could mention that executing people who haven't actually
killed anyone, by using a statute like the "Law of Parties",
is a great miscarriage of justice and casts doubt on the entire Texas
death penalty system. Also mention your sympathy for the family of
the victim, Michael LaHood, whose actual killer, Mauriceo Brown, has
already been executed.
If you are calling a state representative, ask him or her to contact
Rep Dutton's office about signing on to the clemency letter that Dutton
is drafting.
If your representative is Dutton, Farrar, Naishtat , Rodriguez or
Burnam, you do not need to call them. They already have stated their
support for clemency or written their own letters.
You can also send an email to Governor Perry and the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles, which is also being sent to members of the Texas
Legislature. Use the numbers below to call and leave a voice mail
for Governor Perry saying you want him to stop the execution of Kenneth
Foster.
The 400th Texas execution is scheduled for this Wednesday, August
22. Contact Perry to protest the 400th execution and all the ones
that preceded it.
Citizen's Opinion Hotline: (800) 252-9600 [for Texas callers]
Citizen's Assistance and Opinion Hotline: (512) 463-1782
[for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers]
Office of the Governor Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2000
[office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST]
Other actions to help Kenneth:
Attend the Emergency Rally to Save Kenneth Foster this Tuesday Aug
21 at 5 PM at the Capitol in Austin
Sponsored by Kenneth's family, friends and supporters in the Save
Kenneth Foster Campaign.
Gather at 11th and Congress at 5pm on Tuesday, Aug 21. We will march
to the Governor's mansion to make our voices heard and demand a stop
to Foster's execution.
Now that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied Kenneth's
appeal, we must ratchet up the pressure on Gov. Perry and the Board
of Pardons and Paroles.
Perry's phone number is above. You can also fax a letter to the Board
of Pardons and Paroles at (512) 467-0945.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78757
The State of Texas intends to execute Kenneth Foster in August 30,
despite the fact that he did not murder anyone. Unlike any other state
in this country, Texas utilizes a unique statute which allows the
State to subject a person to death even though he did not kill, intend
to kill, help or encourage anyone to do so.
It is urgent that anyone and everyone concerned with stopping this
injustice from taking place comes to an emergency rally in Austin
this Tuesday to stand with Kenneth, his wife, his daughter, his family
and friends.
Let's demand of Perry "Your Law of Parties goes too far--Don't
execute a man for driving a car!"
Donate to the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign. Donations can be sent
to:
To Save Kenneth Foster, #831766
Velocity Credit Union
P.O. Box 1089
Austin, TX 78767-9947
The State of Texas intends to execute Kenneth Foster on August 30,
despite the fact that he did not murder anyone. Only four states across
the country have laws that enable prosecutors to hold those merely
present at the scene of a crime legally responsible. Texas is the
only state that applies this statute in capital cases, making it the
only place in the United States where a person can be factually innocent
of murder and still face the death penalty.
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YouTube Campaign to Stop Execution of Kenneth Foster
We are asking everyone who has a webcam to record a statement and
upload it to YouTube saying why Texas Governor Rick Perry and the
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles should stop the execution of Kenneth
Foster on August 30, 2007. After you upload the statement, you can
send an email to Perry and BPP that includes a link to the video.
Watch this video for an explanation of how you can participate in
the YouTube Kenneth Foster Campaign.
More Kenneth Foster News
The national ABC News published a long article on Kenneth Foster:
Man to Be Executed, Although Prosecutors Say He Didn't Kill
As Kenneth Foster Waits for Death, He Hopes for Reprieve
KXAN ran a story on Kenneth Foster that contains interviews with
Foster as well as with the family of Michael LaHood. In addition,
KXAN has posted the full 43-minute long interview with Foster from
death row. Go to this page and look for the video links on the right.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Writes Editorial Supporting Clemency for
Foster: "Texas' "law of parties" is not serving justice
in the case of a man convicted in a 1996 homicide."
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From today's Dallas Morning News:
Getaway driver nearing execution for '96 murder
90 feet away when crime happened, Texas robber still fighting execution
Dallas Morning News
12:20 AM CDT on Monday, August 20, 2007
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News eramshaw@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN - Kenneth Foster's supporters say he was up for getting high
and robbing a few people on that San Antonio night in 1996 but never
anticipated the spree would lead to murder.
Kenneth Foster is scheduled to be executed Aug. 30 for a 1996 murder
in which he was driving the getaway car but was not the triggerman.
He has maintained that he had no knowledge the killing was going to
happen.
He was in a car nearly 90 feet away when one of his partners shot
and killed Michael LaHood in what jurors determined was a botched
robbery. Barring a last-minute commutation by the Texas Board of Pardons
and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry, he'll be executed for the crime Aug.
30.
Mr. Foster is one of an estimated 80 Texas death row inmates convicted
under the state's "law of parties" - which authorizes capital
punishment for accomplices who either intended to kill or "should
have anticipated" a murder, regardless of whether they pulled
the trigger.
Most states have such laws for many types of crimes, but Texas is
the only state to apply it broadly to capital cases. Death penalty
opponents decry its use, saying it broadens capital punishment far
too much.
Prosecutors argue that all those responsible must be held accountable
for such heinous acts.
"But for Mr. Foster driving that car, but for his planning,
his decision to engage in this crime, Mr. LaHood would be alive,"
said Cliff Herberg, a Bexar County first assistant district attorney
whose office prosecuted the case. Letting Mr. Foster off the hook
"would be like saying the 9/11 hijackers on the plane weren't
guilty of anything because they're not the ones who flew it."
Opponents of the death penalty hope the Foster case brings a focus
to the issue. They're holding rallies, sending mass e-mails and operating
blogs aimed at tearing down the Texas law of parties.
Short of time
Keith Hampton, Mr. Foster's attorney, estimates that 20 death row
inmates convicted under the law of parties have been put to death
in Texas in the last two decades.
"As far as putting people on death row, there isn't anywhere
in the country that even approaches the reach of Texas' provision,"
Mr. Hampton said.
But it's also about trying to save his client, and he says he's running
short of time and legal options. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals,
the state's highest criminal court, upheld Mr. Foster's sentence for
a final time this month.
Mr. Foster "is trying to stay focused," his lawyer said.
"But he has pretty bad days."
The summer night was trouble from the start: Mr. Foster, at the wheel
of his grandfather's rental car, cruised around town with three of
his buddies, swilling 40-ounce beers and smoking marijuana.
By midnight, they agreed to make some cash by holding a few people
up. Wearing bandannas and brandishing a .44-caliber pistol, they picked
out targets and committed two robberies, netting a couple hundred
dollars.
Toward the end of their evening, the men ended up in a neighborhood
they didn't recognize, trailing a Mustang and a Toyota onto a dead
end street. When those cars pulled into a driveway, Mr. Foster started
to pull away. But he stopped when a woman got out of the Toyota and
flagged them down, demanding to know why they were following her.
The men in the car engaged the woman in a teasing, flirtatious conversation.
When she headed up the driveway, Mauriceo Brown, one of Mr. Foster's
robbing partners, hopped out of the car after her, running into her
boyfriend, Mr. LaHood, up by the carport. After a couple of minutes,
Mr. Brown pulled out his gun and fired one shot, killing Mr. LaHood.
According to the woman's trial testimony, Mr. Brown held them up,
demanding their keys and wallets. But the men in the car, including
Mr. Foster, have testified that they thought they were done robbing
for the night and that there was no plan to stick up - and certainly
not to murder - Mr. LaHood.
Mr. Brown, who confessed to the murder after police stopped their
car, later testified he went up to the woman to try to get her phone
number and fired his pistol after he thought he heard Mr. LaHood cock
a gun. (No weapon was found on Mr. LaHood). Mr. Brown, who testified
he never would've embarked on a holdup by himself, was executed last
summer for the murder. The two other passengers in the car, who were
tried separately, received life sentences.
Mr. Foster's attorney believes his client's fate was sealed during
his joint trial with Mr. Brown, when one of his robbing partners testified
that "it was kind of like, I guess, understood, what was probably
fixing to go down" when Mr. Brown got out of the car.
It was enough for jurors - and later, the appeals court - to support
a capital murder charge for Mr. Foster on the basis of conspiracy:
They believed Mr. Foster, as the getaway driver on two previous robberies,
either knew what was about to occur or should have anticipated it.
Mr. Foster's jury "had to find that unanimously, beyond a reasonable
doubt," said Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental affairs
for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. "The
fact that the defendant claims the jury is wrong is not news."
But Mr. Foster's attorney never got the chance to cross-examine the
two partners who received life sentences. One has since given a sworn
statement to Mr. Hampton saying he didn't understand Mr. Brown's intent
was to rob Mr. LaHood until Mr. Brown had already made his way up
the driveway. The other has testified that Mr. Foster asked the men
all night to quit and worried about returning the car to his grandfather.
Mr. Foster's attorney and his friends and family have used this new
testimony to paper the courts with last-minute appeals. And they say
they're bombarding Mr. Perry's office with desperate pleas for a commutation
for Mr. Foster, who, from his cell in Livingston, has become an advocate
for humane treatment for death row inmates since he joined their ranks
a decade ago. This month, Texas is scheduled to execute its 400th
death row inmate since 1985.
...
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles generally doesn't make a recommendation
to the governor's office until a few days before the execution. And
Mr. Perry, who isn't known for showing leniency toward death row inmates,
won't take a position until after the board rules, spokesman Robert
Black said.
Mr. Hampton's not holding out much hope.
"The track record in Texas is extremely, extremely bad,"
he said.
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Events in Houston This Week
From an email from Gloria Rubac in Houston
The 8th annual March to Stop Executions Committee is calling for
a demonstration downtown on Wednesday when Texas executes the 400th
person in this state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976
and executions began in Texas on Dec. 7, 1982.
Yes, 400 people will have been murdered by the state of Texas if
there is not a stay of execution issued in the next three days! This
is over 1/3 of ALL executions in the United States!
If this outrages you, if you want to send a strong message to the
state of Texas, join us as we protest this disgusting milestone in
Texas history. We will have an open mic for those wishing to share
their feelings about the horrific practice of executing people who
are poor, who are more often than not people of color, who made be
mentally ill, who may be innocent, who may suffer from mental retardation
and who probably had a court-apointed attorney.
Johnny Connor -- Texas' 400th Person Set to be Executed on Wed.,
Aug. 22 if he does not get a stay.
Demonstration -- 5:30 to 6:30-- downtown at the old "Hanging
Tree" (Corner of Bagby & Capital, behind Bayou Place &
across from Hobby Center.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
also this week:
Community Forum on Kenneth Foster-- An Innocent Man That Texas Wants
to Execute on August 30 Saturday, Aug. 25, 2:00 to 4:00 PM We invite
you to meet Kenneth's family--his father, his grandfather, and his
wife.
Hear the story of their loved one, why Texas wants to kill him even
though they admit he killed no one, and how you can help fight to
save his life.
St. Saviour Bapist Church, 5202 Tronewood at Peachtree, Houston,
Texas 77016
(In N. E. Houston-- 59 North to Tidwell. Go East. Cross tracks at
Hirsch. Go 3 blocks to Peachtree. Go right 2 blocks to Tronewood.)
For more information contact Brother Ester King at 713-521-0384 or
Gloria at 713-503-2633
Texas Moratorium Network
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email: admin@texasmoratorium.org
phone: 512-302-6715
web: http://www.texasmoratorium.org
