Report from Abe Bonowitz, FADP  http://www.fadp.org

Hi All,

Just getting back after 10 hours of driving and a killing in between.

Just for the record, you can always get Jeb!'s contact info in the "Take
Action" section at www.FADP.org

The protest at the prison was spirited.  Last year when Amos had his first
serious date under his current warrant, I had asked him what sort of
behavior protest he would appreciate outside the prison.  I offered him a
choice - "Prayerful," or "Loud."  He said "Make it loud."  And we
did.  Bonnie Flassig of Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the DP,
who was today's vigil coordinator, led a short series of invocations and
comments during which she several times asked for response by those present
to make themselves heard.  When that happened, we rang bells, beat
makeshift drums, yelled, etc.  Once the text was read and candles lit for
Amos, the victim, the participants in the killing, and for all of us, we
then launched into ongoing and somewhat rhythmic percussion that lasted at
least 40 minutes.  I banged a large metal mixing bowl with a stick for more
than 20 minutes while blowing a whistle repeatedly.  And it felt good to be
making noise.....

Once I stopped banging and blowing, at about 6:15pm, I pulled out a roll of
yellow crime scene tape and unfurled that along the rope separating us from
the road, while declaring that "The state has killed a man for whom there
is no proof of his guilt!  This is a crime scene!"   And from there others
continued to rattle their shakers, bang their drums, ring their bells,
etc...  It was another 30 minutes or so before we saw the witness vans
leaving the prison.  As it turns out there was a delay while they waited
for final determinations from the US and Florida Supreme Courts.

Also present at the protest was "Jeb Bush," who was serving up slices of
"Vengeance Pie."  Photos will be posted on FADP.org in the coming days.

We stashed our signs by the cars and walked over to the media tent to await
the media witnesses.  The prison spokesman came to the podium and gave his
usual time of death, "killed in a professional and humane manner...."
bullshit rap, and answered a few questions.  As he was speaking, Kobutsu
was dropped off on the road adjacent to the media tent.  Amy Jo Smith, who
was driving him, had not been allowed to drop him in the media parking lot,
so she did the next best thing.  It made for a great entrance for Kobutsu,
-- who looks quite out of place, like a dock worker in the clerical robes
of a Buddhist priest -- as he walked into the tent from behind the prison
spokesperson.  Once the prison guy stepped away, I stepped to the podium,
introduced myself, pointed out Bill Pelke and SueZann Bosler -- two murder
victim family members who were there to protest, and then I introduced
Kobutsu.  And Kobutsu went to town - he was great, proclaiming that we were
all murderers, that we all had blood on our hands, that he had been
threatened by the prison authorities, and more.  I am sure he will provide
his perspective in due course.  Then he took questions, and after a few
minutes, the victims families van pulled into the media parking
lot.  Instead of waiting for them to come to the tent, the media all went
and ambushed them in the media parking lot.  We followed them, but I
couldn't hear very much of anything that was said.  It was both
unfortunate, and comical, however, that the prison media people allowed the
victims families to be accosted in that way instead of insisting that the
media use the podium that had been set up.....

After all of that was over, a group of us drove into Gainesville for dinner
at a Thai restaurant run by Buddhists who Kobutsu knows.  Apparently they
prepared the last meal for Dan Houser, another Buddhist executed in Florida
not too long ago.  They made a special meal for Kobutsu.  I had the buffet
- it was delicious.

At dinner, Kobutsu told us that he could definitely hear our noise from
within the prison, and that it had an impact on him and the prisoners, and
also the witnesses and prison people.  He encouraged more of the same at
future extermination protests.

And from there, SueZann, Carolyn and I had another four hours to drive.....

Protests were also held in Clearwater (Tampa Bay), Orlando, Tallahassee,
Gainesville, Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale.  Reports on those actions
will be posted to FADPUpdate in the coming days.  If you want that info,
send a message to fadpupdate-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

A compilation of news reports from around the state will be available at
FADP.org later on Thursday.....

And that's the news....

paz!

--abe
Feb. 26  FLORIDA-------execution
King executed for '77 murder

Amos King, maintaining his innocence to the end, was executed Wednesday
by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman
almost 26 years ago.

King, 48, was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who
lived near a Tarpon Springs corrections center, where King was a work-
release inmate. He then set fire to her home.

King was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., the governor's office said.

King was caught trying to get back into the prison at about the same time
firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home. He fought with a
counselor, James McDonough, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife that
witnesses said apparently came from Brady's kitchen.

"I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man
and the state had evidence to that effect," King said in his final
statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the
things we have gone through.:

2 of Brady's nieces were crying in the front row as King thanked his
attorney, Peter Cannon. His execution was scheduled for 6 p.m., but
delayed by last minute appeals, said Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst. The U.S.
Supreme Court rejected King's last appeal there 30 minutes after his
execution was scheduled.

A flurry of appeals was also filed in the Florida Supreme Court, with the
last motion arriving after 6 p.m. The state high court, which had
rejected an appeal from King late Monday, didn't rule on the new appeals
before his execution.

King also lost recent appeals in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Atlanta and in the federal court in Tampa.

King contended in a Tuesday interview that he was the victim of racism,
circumstances, perjured testimony, and ignored and lost evidence. He
maintained his innocence in Brady's murder, saying, "I am not confessing
to anything I did not do."

King had survived execution attempts by 3 governors.

Gov. Bob Graham signed King's 1st warrant in 1981, followed by Gov. Bob
Martinez in 1988. King also survived 4 execution dates last year on a
warrant signed by Bush.

King becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
Florida, and the 55th overall since Florida resumed capital punishment in
1979. Only Texas (298), Virginia (87), Missouri (60), and Oklahoma (57)
have executed more people than Florida in the modern era, since America
re-legalized the death penalty on July 2, 1976.

King becomes the 14th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in
the USA and the 834th overall since America resumed executions on January
17, 1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)
King executed for murder of Tarpon Springs woman

Amos King was executed this evening by lethal injection for the rape 
and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman almost 26 years ago. King, 48, 
was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who lived 
near a Tarpon Springs corrections center where King was a work-
release inmate. King was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., the governor's 
office said. The execution was scheduled for 6 p.m. but was delayed 
by last-minute appeals.

            'Make me like Clarence Thomas.'

              By Stebbins Jefferson, Palm Beach Post Columnist
              Saturday, March 1, 2003

              "Jeffie, $5 worth of gas is hardly worth stopping for,"
              Bernard Thomas, my high school classmate, said as he
              began filling my tank at the corner service station. "You
              ought to stay home."

              "Well, thank you very much, sir, for wasting your
              precious time pumping a cup of gas for me. Maybe you
              should stay home until you're in a better mood."

              "Life brought on my mood, woman. I'm just trying to deal
              with it," B.T. said as he hung up the gas hose and turned
              to lean on my car. Then to my surprise, my friend blurted
              out, "I wish I was Clarence Thomas."

              "Clarence Thomas? Surely not the Honorable Supreme
              Court Justice Clarence Thomas?"

              "One and the same," B.T. replied.

              "Wait a minute. If I recall correctly, you once said the
              man is a carbuncle on the rump of race progress."

              "I did, and I meant it. But what happened this week got
              me to thinking. If I was more like Uncle Clarence, I
              wouldn't hurt so much."

              "What on earth happened this week, to make you want to
              be the most confused black man in America?"

              "You asking for particulars?"

              "I am indeed, because right now I think you're losing your
              mind."

              "OK, I'll tell you. Wednesday evening, our state fried
              Amos King. Jeffie, I hurt every time I think about him."

              "Well, stop thinking about him. The brother was on Death
              Row for raping and killing a 68-year-old woman. His
              lawyers argued that the rapist's hairs found on the dead
              woman's body were Caucasian, but if that was true, 25
              years should have been ample time to prove that King
              was innocent."

              "Jeffie, you count the years. I'll count what I know from
              history. Looks to me like justice still playin' bingo with
              black lives."

              "Don't say that. We've got to keep the faith. If we lose
              that, we're all lost. Don't forget last December. Ninety
              minutes before King was supposed to die, Gov. Bush
              stayed the execution to allow a DNA test. The DNA
              evidence was 'inconclusive.' Accept reality; the case is
              closed. And, by the way, Amos King wasn't 'fried.' He
              was put to death by legal injection. That's more humane."

              "You sure about that? Either way, the brother is dead, and
              he went to his grave saying he didn't do it."

              "B.T., every man on Death Row says that."

              "Woman, it's plain to see you've never been a black man
              in America. Not only did King say he didn't do it, he said
              the state had proof that somebody else did it. We've both
              lived long enough to know little mistakes like that can
              happen to a person with our kind of paint job."

              "We've got to trust that when the law runs its course,
              justice is served. Remember, she's blind."

              "I wish I could be sure about that, but I can't. So I'm
              praying Amos King was guilty as sin."

              "I feel your pain, B.T. My prayer is if he was innocent,
              one day the truth will come out."

              "So now maybe you can understand why I think life
              would be easier if I was never-doubt-the-system,
              ever-trusting Thomas."

              "And just what caused you to believe he doesn't
              understand our feelings?"

              "What he did Tuesday... Believe it or not, that insult to
              the memory of Thurgood Marshall was the lonely
              member of the Supreme Court to vote for stacking juries
              against black defendants. Miller-El, a black man on
              Texas' Death Row for killing a hotel clerk during a
              robbery, claimed prosecutors deliberately kept blacks off
              his jury. To prove this point, his lawyers presented a
              memo the Dallas County district attorney sent to his
              prosecutors, telling them 'not to take Jews, Negroes,
              Dagos, Mexicans or a member of any minority race on a
              jury.' All the justices except brother Thomas voted for the
              case to be retried."

              "B.T., Justice Thomas explained that Miller-El's
              'arguments rest on circumstantial evidence... that does not
              hold up.' As a learned, legal scholar, he understands all
              facets of the law. That's why he's on the court."

              "Jeffie, circumstantial evidence is the selfsame kind of
              proof that bought Amos King the needle. Mr. Justice
              Thomas has nary a doubt that's enough to kill a man.
              Sorry, but my memory of the past won't let me swallow
              that bull. Maybe if I was Clarence Thomas, I could.
              Maybe just a little more learned knowledge about how
              justice is served would ease my pain. I'm tired of
              hurting."


Gov. Jeb Bush Lifts Stay Granted for Inmate to Allow 
for DNA Tests; Execution Now Set for Feb. 26


Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday lifted the stay of execution he had granted an
inmate in December to allow DNA testing of evidence. Bush said the tests
"failed to provide any new evidence."

The state then set a Feb. 26 execution date for Amos King, convicted of
raping and murdering Natalie Brady, 68, in her Tarpon Springs home in 1977.

Bush granted the stay Dec. 2, about 90 minutes before King, 48, was to
have been executed.

A few hours earlier, Bush's death penalty attorney had met with New York
attorney Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, a legal
clinic that seeks DNA tests to clear people wrongly convicted of crimes.

"In an abundance of caution, I ordered additional testing of evidence in
Amos King's case," Bush said in a statement Wednesday. "That testing has
been completed and it failed to yield any new evidence."

Three pubic hairs and scrapings recovered from under Brady's fingernails
were too degraded to yield any results, said David Menschel, a staff
attorney with the Innocence Project.

Evidence that might still have been testable was destroyed or lost by the
state years ago, according to the group, which called the case of Amos
King "extremely troubling."

One of King's attorneys, Peter Cannon of Tampa, said he will pursue "all
available options" to stop the execution.

(source: Associated Press)

FROM THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

CONTACT:
Barry Scheck, Director, Innocence Project
917-796-1150
David Menschel, Staff Attorney, Innocence Project             212-790-0479


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DNA TESTING IN STATE V. AMOS KING

Wednesday February 5, 2003, 6:15 p.m.


DNA testing in the case of State of Florida v. Amos King was inconclusive.
Because of the size, age, and condition of the evidence, DNA testing was
not able to produce results. In short, it neither incriminated Mr. King nor
exonerated him.

We are grateful to Governor Bush for issuing the stay of execution and
making sure that all of the samples that could be DNA tested were tested.
Sadly, the one piece of evidence that almost certainly would have produced
definitive results the semen-infused vaginal washings was apparently
destroyed by the State years ago.

Amos Kings case demonstrates that wrongfully convicted Florida death row
inmates Rudolph Holton and Paul Hildwin to cite two recent cases were lucky
because, by sheer chance, critical biological evidence happened to be found
years after their trial and was susceptible to DNA testing.

Unfortunately, because the crucial semen evidence was destroyed and the
remaining evidence was too degraded to yield results, the case of Amos King
remains an extremely troubling one. Amos King may well be an innocent man.


For more information, contact:
Barry Scheck, Director, Innocence Project
917-796-1150
David Menschel, Staff Attorney, Innocence Project             212-790-0479