Texas Death Row
He fought to have a Rabbi with him should he be executed.
He was told he would have to deal with a Minister instead !
Max Soffar
Texas Death Row
He fought to have a Rabbi with him should he be executed.
He was told he would have
to deal with a Minister instead !
FIGHTING TO
PROVE HIS INNOCENCE FOR
OVER 20 YEARS ON TEXAS DEATH ROW
INFORMATION AND LINKS ABOUT MAX SOFFAR'S CASE
University of Houston Law Center - Innocence Network
Members of the I.N. performed
factual investigation in connection with the case of death-row inmate Max
Soffar, whose case is currently pending before the en banc Fifth Circuit.
Soffar has been superbly
represented in post-conviction proceedings by Jim Schropp and
other lawyers at the Washington
D.C. office of Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobsen,
as well as David Miles and
other lawyers at Sidley & Austin. I.N. students, who have
accumulated more than 1,500
investigative hours on this case, continue to be involved
in the investigation and
litigation, and several recently traveled to New Orleans to observe
oral argument in the case.
The panel opinion, which
has been vacated, is located at:
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/98/98-20385-cv0.htm
Max
Alexander Soffar is a 45 year old, Jewish man living on death row in Huntsville,
Texas. He has been there for more than 20 years.
(
In March 2000 Death Row inmates were moved to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston,
Texas )
In 1980, Max was picked up for stealing a motorcycle. To his misfortune, the police were under a lot of pressure to solve a recent robbery/murder at a local bowling alley. During the next three days, Max was subjected to a grueling, almost constant interrogation, during which time his request for an attorney was totally ignored. Each time he was questioned, the police would feed him a little more information about the case. Eventually, totally exhausted, Max was coerced into writing a confession to the bowling alley crime. Even then, many of the statements in his confession were not consistent with the actual facts of the crime. Max was clearly bullied, tricked and deceived into signing this false confession.
The court records in Texas show that there
was not one piece of physical
evidence linking Max to this crime. No eyewitness
testimony was given against him. Max was convicted and sentenced to death
solely on this phony "confession" that he was pressured to give. The confession
that was illegally obtained. Police received a few calls of men that fit the
description of the shooter but there was no need to investigate further. They
had their "confessed" killer.
The bowling alley crime had a single surviving witness. This mans description of the shooter did not even come close to matching Max. Consequently, his testimony was not used by the state because it would not have supported their case. The defense never even interviewed this man! Which brings up another problem that Max had during this case.
Max's court appointed attorney was notorious
for poor representation.
His reputation for defending people was
terrible. This fact is demonstrated by the fact that more than 10 men that
he defended, wound up on death row.
Max has never claimed to have been a model citizen. At the time of his arrest he was a young man with no direction. He was also fighting a horrible drug addicted life. These things also contributed to why he was so easily taken advantage of.
If you want to help, please contact Sandi at: sandisoffar@yahoo.com
Or you can contact Max by regular mail to show your support
Write to Max directly at:
Max Soffar #000685
Polunsky Unit D.R.
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas
77351 USA
The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Prisoners
Contact us for more information.
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