[DP] Fwd: urgent action appeal

[Carole Johnson]

>From: Rick Halperin <rhalperi at post.cis.smu.edu>
>Reply-To: TCADP-BOARD01 at yahoogroups.com
>To: TCADP-BOARD01 <TCADP-BOARD01 at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [TCADP-BOARD01] death penalty news-----TEXAS
>Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 14:34:05 -0600 (CST)
>
>

>
>
>URGENT ACTION APPEAL
>
>10 January 2003----EXTRA 02/03 Death penalty / Legal concern
>
>
>USA (Texas) John "Jackie" Elliott, British national
>
>John "Jackie" Elliott, (m), aged 42, is scheduled to be executed in Texas
>on 4 February 2003.
>
>Jackie Elliott was sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of a
>19-year-old woman, Joyce Munguia, in Austin, Texas, on 13 June 1986.
>According to the evidence at trial, four men were present on the night of
>the crime, Jackie Elliott, Pete Ramirez, Ricky Elizondo and Danny Hanson,
>who had been drinking with Joyce Munguia. The latter two men testified at
>Elliott's trial. Hanson said that Elliott, Elizondo and Ramirez had raped
>Joyce Munguia. Elizondo said that the sex had been consensual. He said
>that Elliott left him at the scene with Joyce Munguia and that Elliott
>then returned with a bike chain with which he beat the young woman to 
>death.
>
>Jackie Elliott, who was represented at trial by 2 lawyers who had never
>handled a capital case before, has consistently maintained that he did
>not kill Joyce Munguia. There are aspects of the case which give rise to
>concern about the reliability of the conviction and sentence.
>
>Key to the prosecution's case was the testimony of Ricky Elizondo and
>Danny Hanson. Accomplice testimony is notoriously unreliable. The
>Commission on Capital Punishment which studied the Illinois capital
>justice system because of the number of wrongful convictions there stated
>in its 2002 report that "there are enough concerns about the reliability
>of accomplice testimony that premising the death penalty on such a
>foundation is extraordinarily unwise".
>
>Ricky Elizondo, originally charged with capital murder, was allowed to
>plead guilty and receive a 10-year prison term for sexual assault in
>return for his testimony against Elliott. Reportedly, Elizondo was a
>member of a group known as the "Chain Gang" who wore a motorcycle chain
>as a belt, which he had used in prior assaults. The jury did not know
>this. Elizondo had initially indicated that the prosecution's other key
>witness, Danny Hanson, had had sex with Joyce Munguia under the bridge,
>but dropped this part of his version of events. Danny Hanson was not
>charged. He claimed not to have been present at the murder. His clothing
>was not tested, but blood was found on his shoes, which Hanson claimed
>was his own from an earlier incident when he had been stabbed. Pete
>Ramirez pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was sentenced to 15 years in
>prison. He was not called as a witness because the prosecution said that
>he had failed a lie detector test.
>
>The prosecution also presented expert testimony. An expert in blood
>splatter evidence testified that blood on Elliott's shorts was consistent
>with his being the murderer, but had been unable to find any blood on the
>shirt that he was wearing. Another blood splatter witness, Sergeant Dusty
>Hesskew, an employee of the local police department, gave testimony that
>appeared to support Ricky Elizondo's version of events. Hesskew's
>expertise has been called into question. Also in 1987, he gave evidence
>in the trial of a woman accused of the murder of her husband. Hesskew
>testified that blood splatter evidence showed that she was the murderer.
>The woman was eventually acquitted at a retrial at which Hesskew was
>forced to admit that he had been mistaken. A renowned expert in this
>field testified that in fact the blood evidence indicated that the
>husband had committed suicide.
>
>Jackie Elliott's current lawyers are seeking DNA testing of evidence from
>the crime, including the blood on Danny Hanson's shoes. DNA techniques
>have advanced since 1986 so that such evidence should now be testable.
>The defense is also seeking review of the prosecution's blood splatter
>evidence.
>
>The aspect of the murder that made the crime punishable by the death
>penalty was the jury's finding that Jackie Elliott had killed Joyce
>Munguia in the course of an aggravated assault. The only evidence that
>there had been a rape came from Danny Hanson. If the reliability of his
>testimony fell into doubt, for example, if it was shown by further
>testing that he had himself had sex with Joyce Munguia or that the blood
>on his shoes was hers, then the aggravating factor which allowed the
>jurors to pass a death sentence could be called into question.
>
>Jackie Elliott holds dual US/British nationality. He was born in 1960 in
>Suffolk, England, where his father was stationed at a US Air Force base.
>
>BACKGROUND INFORMATION
>
>Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases. Today, 111
>countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. In
>contrast, 820 people have been put to death in the USA since executions
>resumed there in 1977. Texas accounts for 289 of these executions, and
>has violated international law or standards in its pursuit of the death
>penalty. This includes the execution of people who were under 18 at the
>time of the crime, the mentally impaired, those who did not receive
>adequate legal representation, foreign nationals denied their consular
>rights, and people whose guilt was in doubt. The UN Safeguards
>Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty
>state: "Capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the
>person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no
>room for an alternative explanation of the facts".
>
>RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
>
>- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of Joyce Munguia,
>explaining that you are not seeking to excuse the manner of her death or
>to minimize the suffering it will have caused;
>
>- opposing the execution of John Elliott;
>
>- noting that John Elliott has consistently maintained that he did not
>kill Joyce Munguia;
>
>- expressing concern that serious questions have been raised about the
>reliability of the evidence used to convict Elliott, and noting that
>accomplice testimony and unreliable scientific testimony has contributed
>to numerous wrongful capital convictions in the USA;
>
>- calling on the Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for
>John Elliott and at least to recommend a reprieve to allow DNA testing to
>be conducted;
>
>- calling on the Governor to accept a recommendation of clemency, and if
>that is not forthcoming to issue a reprieve to allow DNA testing to be
>conducted.
>
>PLEASE INCLUDE JOHN ELLIOT'S PRISONER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER IN APPEALS --
>(TDCJ#861).
>
>
>APPEALS TO:
>
>Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
>Executive Clemency Section
>PO Box 13401
>Capitol Station
>Austin, TX 78711
>Fax: 1 512 467 0945
>
>Salutation: Dear Board Members
>
>Governor Rick Perry
>Office of the Governor
>PO Box 12428
>Austin, TX 78711-2428
>Fax: 1 512 463 1849 / 463 0039 / 463 1932
>
>Salutation: Dear Governor
>
>COPIES TO:
>
>You may copy your appeals to, or write brief letters (under 250 words) to:
>
>Letters to the Editor
>Dallas Morning News
>Box 655237
>Dallas, TX 75265
>
>Fax: 1 972 263 0456
>E-mail: letterstoeditor at dallasnews.com
>
>PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
>
>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: uan at aiusa.org
>http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
>Phone: 303 258 1170
>Fax: 303 258 7881
>
>----------------------------------
>
>END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
>
>
>
>
>
>


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