February 19, 2001 | John Byrd was cremated, his ashes rested on a table during the
service next to a postcard showing a tranquil scene of a river and a bridge,
and a note handwritten by Byrd which said:
"Let everyone know this is where I'm at, I'm fishing and I'm free.'' |
Proving John
Byrd's innocence remains family's goalAmong
those opposing the execution was Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., a Columbus
native, special
assistant
to President Kennedy and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Schlesinger noted
in his letter
that
he was "a friend half a century ago of (U.S.) Sen. Robert A. Taft,'' the
governor's grandfather.
Capital
punishment, Schlesinger wrote, "should be reserved for cases where there
is absolutely no
shred
or tremor of doubt . . . The case of John Byrd is, to say the least, shrouded
in doubt.'' - News
Governor
Taft executed an innocent man to cover up
the wrongdoing of The Hamilton County
Prosecutors Office !
The evidence of John Byrd's innocence is now ONLINE !
READ
JOHN BYRD'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR TAFT
|
Letter To Governor
Taft From John William Byrd Jr. The letter John William Byrd sent Governor Taft during the last week of January, 2002. John has attached all the evidence proving how the prosecutors office in Hamilton County railroaded him, secretly using paid informants, and misleading evidence to send an innocent man to death row. |
| John Byrd's original letter and ALL the Exhibits 1 - 34 |
"The Fitrakis
Files: Free Byrd and other cries for justice."
Read Tributes to John Byrd
| Tribute to John Byrd
by fellow death row prisoner Ken
Richey - written February 19, 2002 AN INNOCENT MAN ! |
|
In memory of
John Byrd - For Mary remembering Johnny Includes a painting of John Byrd by Barbara Guthridge Landen |
| News on John William Byrd's February 19 Execution Date |
Letter to Governor Taft from the Mayor of Carlisle, Ohio
12/02/02 23:52:06 GMT Standard Time - From patrick Long, Mayor of
Carlisle, OH
Dear Governor
Taft,
As a lawyer
who has tried 6 death penalty cases, and as an elected official, I would
request that
you grant clemency
in the case of John Byrd. I will not go into a rendition of the facts since
I am
sure you have
(and will receive) volumes of information about Mr. Byrd and his case. I
would
simply point
out that I have discovered in my work that all human beings have worth. Execution
in
this case would
be wrong. I cannot say whether Mr. Byrd is guilty or not. I can say significant
questions have
been raised about his involvement in the crime. Those questions need to
be
answered before
someone is put to death. I know you have an awesome responsibility. I pray
you
will give this
matter the consideration it deserves.
Mayor Patrick
D. Long
City of Carlisle
FEB 2, 2002:
"We are asking the Governor to have the moral fortitude to do the right
thing."
- John Byrd, during a Jan 31, 2002 phone conversation with Tracy Lamourie
of the CCADP.
During the week of Jan 28th, John Byrd sent the Governor a five page letter, along with copies of several exhibits proving John's innocence. John is not asking for clemency. He asks that the governor look into the case, pursue the truth and call for a Federal Investigation into the conviction. Most importantly, John Byrd, his family, friends, and many supporters worldwide, call upon the Governor to to the right thing and save the life of this innocent man.
The prison has attempted to restrict John's contact with media. After a directive from Governor Taft's office that the Dept. of Corrections stop Byrd from discussing the Governor in connection with the upcoming execution, a phone conversation between a reporter and John Byrd, from death row, was immediately terminated when John began to talk about the governor. This reporter later contacted the governors office to complain that they could not take away Byrd's right to speak to media, and it appears for now that this directive has been relaxed, though John has been encouraged to avoid the topic as much as possible.
What
is the governors office hiding ? Isn't it enough that
they are going ahead with the execution despite overwhelming evidence that
corroborates John's innocence ? If they
have nothing to hide,
why
are they concerned that the media hear John's story ?
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT
THAT ALL OF THOSE WHO SUPPORT JUSTICE,
IMMEDIATELY PHONE,
FAX, OR EMAIL THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR.
Even if you have done it
before, do it again. Tell him to read the 5 page letter with exhibits
sent to him from John Byrd, to DO THE RIGHT THING, and save the life of this
man. Bianca Jagger of Amnesty International called the office of the Governor
to register her protest against the execution and to encourage the governor
to look over the evidence, and the Governor's office would not let her speak
to Governor Taft, and told
her to write a letter instead.
CALL THE GOVERNORS
OFFICE NOW and REGISTER YOUR CONCERN.
The execution
is less than a week away and we need to take action NOW !
"I am more innocent than anyone consciously wants to believe or realize...What I am requesting is that you take on the leadership role to grant a reprieve and request for a federal investigation into my conviction." - Excerpt from John Byrd's letter to Gov. Taft, January, 2002.
Please Contact:
Governor
Bob Taft
30th
Floor 77 South High Street
Columbus,
OH 43215-6117
phone:
614-466-3555, fax 614-466-9354
email:
governor.taft@das.st.ate.oh.us
web:
www.state.oh.us/gov
Ohio
State Parole
1050
Freeway Drive
N
Columbus, OH 43229
Chairman
Ghee
phone:
614-752-1200
fax:
614-752-0600
Write Op-Ed to:
Cincinnati
Enquirer
312
Elm St
Cincinnati,
OH 45202
phone:
513-721-2700
fax:
513-768-8340
email:
enquirer.com/editor/letters.html
The
Columbus Dispatch
34
South 3rd St
Columbus,
OH 43215
phone:
614-461-5000
fax:
614-461-7580
email:
dcarson@dispatch.com
web:
www.dispatch.com
| News on John William Byrd's February 19 Execution Date |
| Amnesty International Execution Alert |
"All I want is to be
heard and for the truth to be exposed...
I did not kill this man...
...Taking of life shouldn't rest on the testimony of jail house snitches
who will and do say anything to gain favor from the prosecutor's office."
- John William Byrd, from Columbus Alive, 2000
" Ronald Armstead, the "snitch," was freed from prison
soon after his ludicrous testimony helped send Byrd to death row. Last week's
release of a nearly 13-year-old affidavit,
in which one of the men serving a life term actually confessed to the killing, should come as no surprise..."
- From Columbus Alive
"No eyewitness or other physical evidence identifies the particular
robbers responsible for the murder, and the
only evidence
distinguishing the assailants are the representations of a jail house snitch.' "
- Judge Nathaniel R. Jones in the dissenting opinion.
John William Byrd chooses death by electrocution
to make a political statement against the death penalty
"It's
not like taking your old family dog to the vet and putting him down quietly,"
...He's
willing to take that suffering in order to hopefully make the point that
executions should not be sanitized.
(Either way) it is the killing of another human being."
- Jane Perry, Byrd's public defender attorney
The CCADP
and Johnny's family thank you for your
support and ask that you continue to contact the Governor
and tell him to re-evaluate his decision,
to look deeply into
the case, to accept Johnny's
invitation to meet with him,
and to GRANT CLEMENCY TO JOHN WILLIAM BYRD !
Kim Hamer speaks on behalf of her brother
Hello, my name is Kim
Hamer. I am writing to you on the behalf of my big brother
John Wm. Byrd Jr., who
sits on Ohio's Death Row, now for seventeen and a half
years. Because of
a Jail House Informer with an extensive criminal record. In
1994 John Byrd was put
in the death house. They prepared my brother for his
murder, Johnny had to
write his will. He was given his last meal which he did not
eat. He talked to
all his family members, trying to console and comfort everyone.
When he was the one about
to be murdered, for a crime he did not commit.
Johnny was in the death
house for a total of 36 hours and 32 minutes, before the
U.S. Supreme Court stopped
his murder 28 minutes before execution. The reason
the U.S. Supreme Court
stopped my brother's murder is because Johnny was still in
appeals court. Once
again my brother is facing murder with only maybe five
months to live.
He has no appeals left. During investigation and through out the
trial there was no physical
evidence found to place him at the scene of the crime.
Because John Wm. Byrd
Jr. is an Innocent Man. So please, I urge you to find it in
your heart to help my
brother in any way you see possible. John Byrd's case needs
immediate attention and
to be heard or he will be murdered for something he did
not do. All because
of a Jail Informant. Also, I would like to add that when a
person is executed, Homicide
is what goes on the death certificate for cause of
death. With my brother's
papers, I'm also sending a letter that he wrote to Mr. Rod
Parsley, that was written
from his Heart, Mind and Soul.
Thank You for Your Time, Sincerely, Kim Hamer
Visit on 8-15-01 with Kim Hamer, his Sister
A letter written
from Johnny Wm. Byrd Jr. to Mr. Rod Parsley at World Harvest
Church dated April
23, 2000.
Dear Mr. Parsley:
I pray that this finds
you and your family doing well and in the best of health on
this day of celebration.
My name is Johnny Wm. Byrd Jr., and I am in dire need of
your help. I can
only pray that you find it in your heart, as a servant of God to
help me with my calamitous
situation.
Seventeen and a half years
ago I awoke to a horrible nightmare. At the young stage
of my life, when others
my age were dreaming of their futures, I was shouldered
with the weight of the
world. I was forced into the arena of corrupted
jurisprudence. I
became a socially accepted sacrifice. A expendable pawn in the
furtherance of self-serving
political, financial aspirations. I was sentenced to die for
a murder I didn't commit.
I have maintained my innocents for all these years I
have been held captive
in the bowels of societies murder machine. I have fallen
short in the glory of
God, but a killer I am not!!! In my battle to show my
innocents, I was prematurely
placed in the death house only [a] feet away from the
electric chair and came
within minutes of being murdered by the state of Ohio. I
have never been given
the opportunity within this deteriorating justice system to be
heard. Permitting
the crimes that have been committed against me to be white
washed. Now, once
again I am facing my pending murder and still I haven't been
heard. For if I
was heard it would expose the improprieties and the crimes
committed by the Hamilton
County Prosecutors office in order to obtain a
conviction and sentence
of death.
I realize it is often
heard from others in my situation that they are innocent, and
these claims are taken
with a grain of salt. This can no longer be an acceptable
practice. To much
evidence in the most recent of times has been showing that
innocent men and women
have been wrongfully convicted and murdered by the
states, or imprisoned.
But yet when this happens no one is held accountable until
state elected officials
(judges, prosecutors, governors, attorney generals, etc...), are
held accountable for knowingly
permitting and committing state sanction murder,
It'll never stop!!!
In my case, there is literally
no evidence against me, as there shouldn't be, I'm an
innocent man! I
was convicted and sentenced to be murdered on the testimony of
a Jail House Informer.
An individual whom has been convicted of sodomy,
assaults, drugs, etc...,
but yet the prosecutors office worked out a deal with this
individual to be set free
to victimize society so that perjured testimony could be
used to place an innocent
man to death. As I stated in the above, my state sanction
murder is pending for
a crime I did not commit. If I don't start receiving gravely
needed help soon they
will murder me, to hide what has been done to me.
Attached to this letter
you will find a copy of the Appendix written by the Hon.
Judge Nathaniel R Jones,
which is not going to be permitted to [be] placed in the
text of the courts opinion.
What you are going to read is highly unusual, but
strongly support that
I as an innocent man has never been given a chance to be
heard and if something
isn't done soon I'll be murdered.
We have lost our way in
this country, the churches have lost their way and stopped
teaching scriptures as
scriptures should be taught, electing to be more politically
correct in order to keep
the numbers of their congregations. Supporting capital
punishment is not the
will of God. In the book of Luke God tells us, and I'll place
this in laymen terms,
that we have been taught an eye for an eye, but he went on to
tell us, not to try and
get even with a person who has wronged us, to be forgiven
and turn the other cheek.
Also in the book of Luke God tells us, judge not - for
yee will be judged in
the same light. The Lord has told us that life is precious.
This is basic teaching
that have been forgotten for whatever reason. But they are
not the right reason.
The world is lost and so are Christians who's souls will be lost
when the judgment day
comes. The bible also tells us that what is in the dark will
come out into the light,
and that we should never false witness. The most precious
gift ever given to mankind
was murdered on the evidence of false witness. Haven't
we learned anything yet?
On this day we'll praise Jesus and celebrate his rising
from the grave.
If I am murdered by the state of Ohio it'll be because of a false
witness, however, after
my crucifixion I will not rise from the grave and walk
among my loved ones.
Is it God's will that an innocent man be put to death it's
time for what is hidden
in the dark and to come out into the light. I am passionately
requesting your help.
God Bless you and keep you safe,
Johnny Wm. Byrd Jr.
P.S.., For more information you can either write to me here at
Johnny
Wm. Byrd Jr.
#A175145,
P.O. BOX 788
Mansfield, Ohio
44901 USA
OR,
you can give me a number that I can call you collect on, OR, you can call
Mr.
Richard Vickers, 614-466-5394, OR you can call Mary L. Ray, 513-251-9364.
Please
answer me soon.
The death penalty, moratorium,
state sanction murder, constitution. As this seemly
debate heats up on capital
punishment and the possibility of an innocent being
murdered by the states
more and more death row prisoners are drawing closer to
their homicide, myself
being one of them. While politicians play cat and mouse
with this gravest of punishments
innocent people are going to be murdered, and
have been murdered!
Retiring justices of the United States Supreme Court have
told us that they have
indeed murdered innocent people in a vain attempt to clear
their conscious of the
horrendous horrors they have permitted to take place, to
cleanse their very souls
before facing their judgment before the almighty. Once the
light of life has been
extinguished and everything that individual was, could of been
or ever going to be has
been taken, it's too late to say - "Oh God what have I
done!" All whom
support this barbaric abomination of humanity are guilty of
murder. Whatever
rationale one may apply to themselves to justify their support of
this holocaust against
human life - be advised, that even the law recognizes state
sanction murder (executions)
as a homicide. The cause of death listed on the death
certificate of a state
crucified human being is, homicide!!! In recent years the
United States Supreme
Court and Congress has been exercising their blatant
disregard of the constitution
in order to be politically correct - keeping up with the
latest polls, systematically
denying the poor and working poor their rights under the
United States Constitution,
while creating loopholes for the wealthy that basic rights
don't apply to because
they are above Lady Justice and can buy her favors. The
avenues of appeals in
capital cases have been reduced to just formalities that only
serve to place more moneys
in the hands of those that are not termed defendants.
When the rights of one
are being denied - the rights of all are being denied unless
you are a part of the
selective wealth in this country. Article (1) section (9) of the
United States Constitution
clearly states; The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public
safety may require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. The
passing of the 1996 Atedpa
has all but done away with habeas review passed by
congress and made into
law by a corrupted sex addict. Now even if federal courts
wanted to review the constitutional
violations of a capital case they are constrained
from doing so and must
give defense to the state courts findings of fact and
conclusions of law, permitting
the cover-up of corruption of convictions and paving
the way for innocent human
beings to be murdered. In one way or the other the
safe guards have been
removed to prevent the murder of an innocent man. The
amendments under the United
States Constitution have all been white washed in
favor of political correctiveness.
Such as the 5th Amendments; No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without receiving due process of law, nor shall
private property be taken
for public use, without just compensation. Just as this
right has been taken away
from me and others on death row, so has it been taken
from you. Just remember
this next time you get pulled over for not having your
seat belt on and the police
want to seize your car, or take your house or whatever
you own. You do
have a 4th amendment right to tell them to stay out of your
belongings if they don't
have a search warrant. Just try and invoke this right and
see what happens.
You'll make the 6:00 news as another Rodney King. Under the
6th amendment of the United
States Constitution; in all criminal prosecution have
the right to an impartial
jury, to confront the witness against him, to have
compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses against him, to have compulsory
process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor and to have the effective assistance of
counsel. At my trial,
I did not have the effective assistance of counsel, my counsel
had previously represented
the states key witness, the jail house snitch, and he
refused to cross examine
him, or disclose any information, nor the use of
professional witness in
my favor nor impartial jury. The majority of capital cases
have been denied this
right, studies are showing now that when it comes to death
penalty trials the defendant
is given court appointed counsel that are under skilled
and underpaid to do a
proper defense, while the prosecution has unlimited funding.
If you have ever found
yourself facing any form of charge without the moneys to
pay for an attorney, you
know how little that was done on your behalf, most likely
you made a plea bargain
because you could tell your attorney wasn't on a ball,
however, in most capital
cases pleas are far coming, especially depending on what
county you are charged
in (Hamilton County the worst). The 8th amendments
states; excessive bail
shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishment
inflected. The death penalty as a whole is cruel and
unusual punishment.
Ohio has recently passed laws to where judges can deny a
defendant of any charge
bail. So once again, we come back when the rights of one
are denied the rights
of all denied. The 9th amendment to the United States
Constitution clearly states;
the enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall
be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people. The 14th
amendments, section 1,
to the United States Constitution states as follows, as well;
all person born or naturalized
in the United States and subjected to the jurisdiction
therefore our citizens
of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No
state shall make or enforce
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities
of citizens of the United
States nor shall any state deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property,
without the due process of law nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws. I have been denied all these rights
under the Constitution
and so have you. Open your eyes and look around at what
is going on around you,
how you have been manipulated by the different
organization with their
own agendas and politicians to curb your way into thinking
that you are making sure
that justice is being served to those that are beneath
contempt, clouding your
vision from the destruction of your own constitutional
rights. Stand up
and be heard now, refuse to be the blind pawn used by special
interests groups and start
contacting your state reps., and the governor and demand
a moratorium. You'll
not only saving innocent life, but you'll be taken a step
forward into regaining
the rights that have been taken from you. Now is the time to
say enough is enough,
the taking of one innocent life does not justify even
murdering the guilty.
Ohio's death penalty cases have serious problems, even Chief
Justice Moyer of the Ohio
Supreme Court realizes this. Don't wait until the
murdering gets out of
hand as now Governor Bush has permitted in his state.
Support the bill introduced
by Shirley Smith calling for moratorium in Ohio. Don't
permit yourself to be
blinded by just the use of DNA testing. A high number of
death penalty convictions
are based on the use of jail house snitches such as in my
case and others.
I have never been given a chance to be heard. The system is
broken, it has been when
it comes to capital punishment, now is the time to stand
up and be heard, demand
the killing not to get under way, demand for an innocent
man (John Byrd) to be
given due process of law and be heard before I'm
murdered. The only
evidence against me was the use of a Jail House snitch, who is
set free avoiding a maximum
15 years in prison on a parole violation, all he had to
do, was give perjured
testimony and the prosecutors would vouch for him. Now is
the time for you - The
concern citizen - to take a stand and put an end to the
erosion of the justice
system. What has happened to me, can happen to you or
your child, husband, friend
or brother. Stand up now and be counted! Moratorium
now!!! Free John Wm. Byrd
Jr.!!! Don't murder the innocent in my name!!!
- Johnny Wm. Byrd Jr.
Nathaniel R. Ones, Circuit Judge Dissenting Opinion:
Appendix dated Apr 6, 2000:
Nathaniel R. Ones, Circuit
Judge, dissenting. This dissent is compelled by the
majority's validation
of the unpardonable constitutional improprieties present in this
record. The effect
of this validation is an tolerable abandonment of substantive and
procedural principles
deeply rooted in Anglo Saxon and American constitutional
jurisprudence. Stated
in it's most simply form, these principles are designed to
protect individual rights
from constitutional shortcuts. I dissent here because rather
than upholding these principles,
as courts sworn to do, a grievous breakdown has
occurred.
The ultimate penalty -
death - hovers ominously over this case, and this reality
leads me to set forth
several postulates. Democracy defends itself from anarchy by
the degree it exalts process
over passion. The supremacy of due process over raw
emotion is even more compelling
when government contemplates assuming the
power to kill. Jurists
most often find themselves in the cross hairs of popular rage
when confronted with constitutional
infirmity in capital cases. In no other arena of
civic decision making
is it more imperative that the public officials operate with
detachment. Judge
Cranch, with unsurpassed clarity, spoke to the necessity of
judicial impartiality
in charged circumstances when he declared during Aaron Burr's
1807 treason trial: "The
Constitution was made for times of commotion...dangerous
precedents occur in dangerous
times. It then becomes the duty of the judiciary
calmly to poise the scales
of justice, ...undisturbed by the clamor of the multitude."
Examining Petitioner John
Byrd's claims with the requisite judicial sobriety exposes
serious and egregious
instances of prejudicial error which, if uncorrected, will lead
to his execution.
It is beyond refutation that the State secured Byrd's death
sentence in contravention
of fundamental constitutional guarantees of due process,
fundamental fairness,
and effective assistance of counsel. These errors require an
issuance of the writ or,
at least, a remand for limited discovery. Anything less is a
gross and irrevocable
miscarriage of justice, as the stark and chilly choice here is
between due process or
death. Out of a deeply held belief that the option
compelled by the Constitution
is clear, I now set forth my dissenting views.
The evidence of John Byrd's innocence is now ONLINE !
READ
JOHN BYRD'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR TAFT
|
Letter To Governor
Taft From John William Byrd Jr. The letter John William Byrd sent Governor Taft during the last week of January, 2002. John has attached all the evidence proving how the prosecutors office in Hamilton County railroaded him, secretly using paid informants, and misleading evidence to send an innocent man to death row. John Byrd's original letter and ALL the Exhibits 1 - 34 Governor Taft executed an innocent man to cover up the wrongdoing of The Hamilton County Prosecutors Office ! |
| News on John William Byrd's February 19 Execution Date |
Please contact the Governor
1)
Be simple, clear and polite.
2)
Please write in the letter asking Gov. Taft, to grant John Wm. Byrd Jr.,
Clemency until further investigation can be done, or, to review the case
and set him free, time served.
3)
Be legible, hand written letters are the most effective.
4)
Include your name and address.
5)
Please put John Wm. Byrd Jr.'s name in the letter to the Governor.
6)
Also include his jail number which is A175-145 D.R.-5-1087.
7)
Please mail letters and petitions to: Mary Ray, P.O.Box 141343,
Cinti. Ohio, 45250
The
reason for mailing is so we can hand deliver petitions and letters to the
Governor personally.
Keep up the pressure on Governor Taft to stop this injustice:
Ohio Governor Bob Taft
77 South High Street, 30th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: (614) 466-3555
You may e-mail Governor Taft at:
Governor.Taft@das.state.oh.us
( Forward/CC copies to : info@ccadp.org )
We the family Thank You for your time, letters, signatures and prayers.
Respectively Yours - Kim Hamer
The visit on 8-15-01 Mary Ray, his Mom,
is in Pink. Kim Hamer, his Sister, is in Black.
The evidence of John Byrd's innocence is now ONLINE !
READ
JOHN BYRD'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR TAFT
|
Letter To Governor
Taft From John William Byrd Jr. The letter John William Byrd sent Governor Taft during the last week of January, 2002. John has attached all the evidence proving how the prosecutors office in Hamilton County railroaded him, secretly using paid informants, and misleading evidence to send an innocent man to death row.
the wrongdoing of The Hamilton County Prosecutors Office ! |
| Tribute to John Byrd
by fellow death row prisoner Ken
Richey - written February 19, 2002 AN INNOCENT MAN ! |
|
In memory of
John Byrd - For Mary remembering Johnny Includes a painting of John Byrd by Barbara Guthridge Landen |
| News on John William Byrd's February 19 Execution Date |
