URGENT APPEAL FOR JOHNNIE BASTON

Johnnie Baston, a 35-year-old African American man, is scheduled to be executed in Ohio on March 10th. He was sentenced to death for a murder committed during a robbery in 1994.

Baston was arrested after police recieved information that he was involved in the robbery of a retail store in Toledo, Ohio, during the course of which Chong Hoon Mah was fatally shot. Baston told police he had participated in the robbery with an accomplice called 'Ray', a high-ranking gang member, who was the gunman. When the police could not locate 'Ray', they believed Baston must have acted alone. He pled not guilty, and was sentenced to death in 1995 when he was just over 20-years-old, and has been on death row for 16 years.

Baston had a difficult childhood. After being abandoned by his mother soon after his birth, he suffered physical abuse and neglect at the hands of his father, and was adopted by an aunt. At a clemency hearing before the Ohio Adult Parole Authority earlier in the month, she said his parental abandonment had led to severe behavioural problems in his teenage years. She threw him out of the house a week before the crime.

The Mah family are opposed to the execution because of their respect for human life. The family were opposed to the death penalty during the trial as well. Last month, Chong Mah's son signed a statement that "my family and I are opposed to Mr Baston being executed".

You can read more about the case here.


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Acknowledging the seriousness of the crime for which Johnnie Baston was sentenced to death;
- Calling on the governor to commute the death sentence and to work to lead Ohio away from the death penalty.

APPEALS TO:
Governor of Ohio
Governor John Kasich
Riffe Center, 30th Floor, 77 South High Street
Columbus, Oh 43215-6117,
USA
Fax: 1 614 466 9354
Email: http://governor.ohio.gov/ShareYourIdeas.aspx
Salutation: Dear Governor


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

You can email us at deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk if you want to know more.

Texas Executes Timothy Adams

Timothy Adams was executed in the state of Texas Tuesday night for the 2002 fatal shooting of his 19-month-old son.

The execution took place moments after the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal from his attorneys.

Members of Adams' family and 3 of the 12 jurors who sentenced him to death were appealing for his sentence to be commuted.

Adams' execution is the second carried out in Texas so far this year, and the 8th so far in the US in 2011.

Ohio Executes Frank G. Spisak Jr.

Frank G. Spisak Jr. was executed early on Thursday morning in Ohio.

Spisak, a Hitler devotee, killed 3 men and wounded another during his 1982 murder spree on the Cleveland State University campus. He was pronounced dead at 10:34a.m.

Spisak is the first condemned inmate to be put to death so far this year in Ohio, and the 7th so far in the USA. His execution is the last in which the state will use the drug sodium thiopental, in the midst of  nationwide shortages and the discontinuation of its production in Italy. The state intends to use a single drug - Pentobarbital, also called Nembutal - in future executions, the next of which is scheduled for March 10th.

Texas Executes Michael Wayne Hall

Yesterday, Michael Wayne Hall was executed by lethal injection in Texas, the first execution of the year for America's most active death penalty state.

The 31-year-old was sentenced to death for the 1998 torture and murder of a mentally challenged woman, alongside Robert Neville who was executed 5 years ago.

In his final statement, with relatives of his victim, Amy Robinson, watching him, Hall repeatedly asked for forgiveness.

"I would like to give my sincere apology to Amy's family," he said, his eyes watery. "We caused a lot of heartache, grief, pain and suffering, and I am sorry. I know it won't bring her back."

Hall is the 6th condemned person to be executed in the US this year. He is the first person this year to be executed in Texas, and the 465th overall in the state since it resumed the death penalty in 1982.

Innocent Man Spent 18 Years on Death Row, and Texas Won't Pay Him a Dime

I read this on Facebook not long ago, and wanted to throw something - the injustice is just infuriating.

As you may already know, Anthony Graves spent a shocking 18 years on death row for murders he did not commit and was exonerated in November of 2010, thankfully before his death sentence could be carried out. To read more about his case and exoneration, click here.

He would have been elegible to receive compensation of $1.4 million for his wrongful conviction, had the document ordering his release contained just one little word: innocence.

But the document did not, and so he gets nothing.

Graves is innocent. But because the word wasn't included in the order which dismissed the charges against him, he doesn't get a dime for that great big error which cost him 18 years of his life. His attorney, Nicole Casarez, says the Texas Comptroller's Office should have taken her client's unique circumstances into consideration. I have to agree.

Grave's cannot seek a pardon from Governor Rick Perry because, after all, there's nothing for him to be pardoned for - asking to be pardoned would be admitting guilt for something he hasn't done. Casarez said a civil suit seeking compensation is one of several options which will be discussed with attorneys specialising in that kind of law.

What gets me so riled up about this is the hypocrisy of the whole sordid business. That Texas, a state which frequently forces people to pay the ultimate price for their mistakes, refuses to face up to and pay the price for its own errors. Instead, they sweep things under the rug, and innocent people suffer.

Maybe if the state wasn't wasting millions of dollars on the death penalty every year, they'd have enough cash left over to compensate the man from whom they stole 18 years of his life.

URGENT APPEAL FOR TIMOTHY ADAMS

Timothy Adams is due to be executed in Texas on February 22nd. Three of the jurors who sentenced him to death are now urging that his sentence be commuted. Two mentioned feeling "pressured" into voting for a death sentence by other members of the jury.

Adams killed his 19-month-old son, and has never tried to deny it. His family in this case are also the family of the victim. His family are also appealing for clemency. Adams sister said that his death would be "another huge loss to our family".

To read a more thorough account of Adams case, click here to go to Death Penalty News.

Please help us take immediate action to try and spare Adams from execution. Here are some things you can do:

Write an appeal to:

Clemency Section, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
8610 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Austin, TX 78757-6814
USA
Fax 512 467 0945
Email: bpp-pio@tdcj.state.tx.us
Salutation: Dear Board members


Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
USA
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor


Here is some advice for what you should write in your appeal:
Acknowledge the seriousness of the crime for which Adams was sentenced to death.
Note that 3 of the jurors from his murder trial are calling for the sentence to be commuted.
Call on the authorities to recognise the suffering that execution causes family members.
If writing to the parole board: urge them to recommend to the Governor that he commute the death sentence.
If writing to Governor Perry: urge him to do all within his power and influence to stop the execution.


If you live in the US, you can also sign an online petition here. Unfortunately, you can't sign it if you don't live in the US.

PLEASE take immediate action to help Timothy Adams. Do as much as you can. Email us if you have any questions: deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

Jurors urge clemency for man they sentenced to death

American army veteran Timothy Adams (left) is scheduled to be executed in Texas on February 22nd. He was sent to death row for fatally shooting his 19 month old son after flying into a rage during a fight with his wife in 2002, after which he threatened to commit suicide.

Now 3 of the jurors who sent him to death row are urging his life to be spared two weeks before the sentence they helped to hand down is carried out.

Along with Adams' lawyers and family, the 3 jurors filed a petition on Monday with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and governor Rick Perry. They say they were not given a complete picture of Adam's character and religious background during his murder trial. They are seeking the sentence to be reduced to life without the possibility of parole.

Adams took full responsibility for the killing and pleaded guilty. Admission of guilt is usually enough to avoid a death sentence. Adams was not so lucky.

The 42 year old's family are also appealing for clemency. His parents, grandparents of the victim, say they have forgiven him.

"Our family lost 1 child," Adams' father, Columbus Adams wrote. "We can't bear to lose another. After my grandson's death, we lived through pain worse than anyone could imagine.
"Nothing good will come from executing my son, Tim, and causing us more anguish. We pray that God will fill Governor Perry's heart with compassion. If not for Tim, then at least for our family."


When people argue with me about the death penalty, they usually bring up the argument 'but what if someone you loved was killed? Wouldn't you want to see the killer die?' No, I believe in forgiveness, but that's not my point here - my point is that the family of the victim in this case is losing yet another loved one if the execution goes ahead. Where is the logic in that? I've rarely heard such a case where the application of the death penalty has actually made things so much worse for all involved. Are we, as a society, so desperate for our pound of flesh that we just throw the idea of closure for victim's families out as a justification for our acts, even when the concept doesn't apply?
I sure hope not.

Missouri Executes Martin Link

Martin Link has been executed by lethal injection in Missouri for the 1991 murder of an 11 year old girl.
Governor Jay Nixon denied Link clemency on Monday, and on Tuesday courts refused to halt the execution.
He was pronounced dead at 12:15a.m. this morning at the state prison in Bonne Terre.