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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION APPEAL - 13 May 2002
EXTRA 39/02 Death penalty
/ Legal concern
USA (Texas) Johnny
Joe Martinez (m), Hispanic, aged 29
Johnny Martinez is scheduled to be executed
in Texas on 22 May
2002. He was sentenced to death in
1994 for the murder of Clay
Peterson in 1993.
In the early hours of 15 July 1993,
after a night of heavy drinking, 20-
year-old Johnny Martinez robbed a grocery
shop in Corpus Christi on
the Texas coast, stabbing Clay Peterson,
the shop assistant, in the
process. Martinez testified at the
trial that he left the shop, went to the
beach and cried. Within half an hour
of the murder he had telephoned
the police from a nearby motel, and
told them of the crime. When the
police arrived, Martinez surrendered
without resistance. The arresting
officer described him as 'very cooperative'
and 'concerned about what
happened'.
At the police station, Johnny Martinez
confessed to stabbing Clay
Peterson. He assisted the police in
their search for the murder
weapon. The interrogating officer described
Martinez as 'very upset'
and 'remorseful'. At the sentencing
phase of the subsequent trial,
Johnny Martinez expressed his remorse
and an inability to explain
why he had committed this act of violence.
He had no history of
violence and no criminal convictions.
A death sentence can only be passed
in Texas if the jury unanimously
agrees that 'there is a probability
that the defendant would commit
criminal acts of violence that would
constitute a continuing threat to
society' - the so-called 'future dangerousness'
question. The Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) upheld
Martinez's death sentence
in 1996. 4 of the 9 judges dissented,
saying that the evidence
of his future dangerousness was insufficient
to support a death
sentence, and that a 'proper analysis'
of the relevant precedent
demanded that the death sentence be
overturned.
One of the dissenters wrote: 'we have
the duty of ensuring death
sentences are imposed in an evenhanded,
rational and consistent
manner... Today, the majority shirks
that responsibility and issues an
opinion that insulates jury verdicts
from meaningful appellate review...
In light of the majority opinion, there
is no longer any assurance that
the death penalty will not be wantonly
or freakishly imposed'. Another
of the dissenters wrote: 'Every murder
committed in the course of a
robbery is in some way cold-blooded
and senseless. Each such
murder does not, however, merit the
death penalty, our most final
punishment... This opinion will probably
set a precedent ensuring that
never again will there be facts that
this Court will find insufficient to
support an affirmative answer to the
[future dangerousness
question]'. The dissent continued that
the majority had 'contorted' the
facts of the case in order to uphold
the death sentence.
The TCCA then appointed a lawyer to
represent Johnny Martinez for
his further, habeas corpus, appeals.
This lawyer had never handled
such an appeal, and asked the court
on several occasions for
permission to withdraw from the case.
In 1997, the lawyer filed an
appeal, without having once spoken
to or visited his client, having
refused to accept telephone calls from
him, and having sent him only
one brief letter. The appeal
was five and a half pages long. Two of
the four claims raised comprised 17
lines of text with three inches of
margin, with no cases cited. Habeas
corpus applications filed by
adequately funded, experienced lawyers
routinely run to more than
150 pages because of the number of
issues raised and the
complexity of the law. The appeal did
not challenge the adequacy of
Johnny Martinez's trial representation,
even though his trial lawyer
had done little investigation or preparation
for the sentencing phase.
The TCCA dismissed the appeal. One of
the judges dissented, citing
the brevity and lack of quality of
the appeal. He wrote that the merits
of the appeal should not be assessed,
but that the adequacy of the
appeal lawyer's performance should
be examined. The lawyer himself
agreed with the dissent, again asking
to withdraw from the case
because of his inexperience.
New lawyers later appointed for Martinez's
federal appeals
discovered substantial mitigating factors
that had not been presented
to the trial jury, including evidence
that Johnny Martinez had been
subjected to sexual and physical abuse
as a child, and of his
dysfunctional family background, including
his mother's selling and
use of heroin. Given Johnny Martinez's
youth, intoxication, remorse,
cooperation with the police, and non-violent
history, such mitigation
evidence, the federal appeal lawyers
argued, might have affected the
sentence. However, the federal
courts have ruled that the claim of
inadequate trial counsel is procedurally
barred from being evaluated
because the claim was not raised in
the state courts. The federal
district court expressed concern at
this 'harsh' outcome - given that
the issue was lost to judicial review
because of the incompetence of
the state habeas lawyer - but the federal
court considered itself
bound by precedent.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International opposes the death
penalty in all cases. In the
USA it is a punishment supposedly reserved
for the 'worst of the
worst'. In reality, it is disproportionally
reserved for the poor and the
inadequately represented. International
standards require that capital
defendants be provided with adequate
legal assistance 'at all stages
of proceedings'.
Since the USA resumed executions in
1977, 776 prisoners have been
put to death in 32 states. Texas accounts
for 267 of these executions.
There have been 27 executions in the
USA this year, 11 of them in
Texas.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals
to arrive as quickly
as possible, in your own words:
- expressing sympathy for the family
and friends of Clay Peterson,
and explaining that you are not seeking
to excuse the manner of his
death;
- opposing the execution of Johnny
Martinez;
- suggesting that his remorse and cooperation
with the police do not
indicate a case of the 'worst of the
worst' for which the USA
supposedly reserves the death penalty,
noting that four Court of
Criminal Appeals judges held that there
is insufficient evidence to
support a death sentence;
- expressing deep concern at the incompetence
of his appointed
appellate counsel, and failure of his
trial lawyer to investigate or
present available mitigating evidence,
noting that international
standards demand adequate legal representation
at all stages of
proceedings;
- calling for clemency in the name
of fairness and decency.
APPEALS TO:
Texas Board of Pardons
and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
PO Box 13401, Capitol
Station
Austin, Texas 78711
Fax:
1 512 467 0945
Salutation:
Dear Board Members
COPIES TO:
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
PO Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax:
1 512-463-1849
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Amnesty International is a worldwide
grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.
Please do not repost this appeal to
any part of the Internet
without prior permission from Amnesty
International. Thank you for
your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258
7881
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