|
Let's
Stop the Killing of an Innocent Person
by Tom Turnipseed - Published on Friday, April 26, 2002 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0426-01.htm |
| Richard Charles Johnson in the News |
Join us in asking
South Carolina's Govenor Jim Hodges to grant clemency to
Richard Charles
Johnson, an innocenct man wrongly convicted
of murder facing execution by the state of South Carolina.
THE
FACTS: Richard
Charles Johson is scheduled to be executed by the State of South
Carolina on May 3, 2002.
(THIS FRIDAY) for a crime he did not commit. In October 1999, just
hours before Mr. Johnson
was sceduled for execution, his co-defendent confesed to the murder
for which Johnson was to
be executedd. Although the execution was a stayed at the time, South
Carolina again seeks to
execute Mr. Johnson even though his co-defendents has NEVER
retracted her confession
and NO JURY HAS EVER HEARD THIS AND OTHER EVIDENCE
relevent to his INNOCENCE.
Professor Barry Scheck of
the Cardozo Law School Innocence Project, who is also assisting in
the clemency proceedings,
argued before the South Carolina Supreme Court that Johnson's trial
has all the earmarks of
a trial in which the risk of an innocent person being convicted is at it's
very
highest. The evidence presented
was slim at the best and favorable information was witheld from
the jury.
Richard Charles Johnson was
sentenced to death soley on the basis of the testimony of two
co-defendents who walked
out of jail the day after they testified, and a career jailhouse snitch
with
a history of testifing falsely
against inmates. By contrast, the only physical evidence available points
to Johnson's innocence.
When his hands were tested for gunpowder within the critical time frame,
NO gunpowder residue was
found.
Richard Johnson had no history
of violance before this crime and has none since. In fact, his prison
record does not contain
one single disciplinary incident in the sixteen years he has been on death
row.
Richard Johnson will seek
clemency because he poses no threat to those in or outside the prison
walls, because someone else
confessaed to the crime for which he is to be put to death, and
because - SIMPLY-HE
IS INNOCENT.
Please take a
moment of your time and join us in asking South Carolina
Governor Jim
Hodges to grant clemency for Richard Charles Johnson.
The
Governor Jim Hodges Governor of South Carolina
Post
Office Box 11829
Columbia,
South
Carolina
29211
Fax:803.734.9413
email: governor@govoepp.state.sc.us
For your convenience, there
is a link to the governor's email on a website at www.sceja.org.Click
on ActionAlert and at the
bottom of the page is a direct link to Governor Hodge's webmail.Please
also consider writing a
letter to your local newspaper. All the help we can get and all the attention
to this man's life is greatly
appreciated. Her are some points you may like to use when writing to
the governor.
* The state in possession
of a sworn confession from Johnson" co-defendent stating she killed
Trooper Smalls,the crime
for which Johnson is to be executed, and NO jury ever heard that
evidence.
* No physical evidence links Johnson to the murder.
* The prosecution violated Johnson's right to a fair trial-TWICE
*Trooper Smalls mother has
released an affidavit stating she does NOT want Johnson to be
executed.
* A serious examination of
the death penalty and its application in this state(S.C) is necessary
before any one else is put
to death South Carolina.
If you need any information
about this case please visit the web site at www.sceja.org
|
Let's
Stop the Killing of an Innocent Person
by Tom Turnipseed - Published on Friday, April 26, 2002 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0426-01.htm |
| Richard Charles Johnson in the News |
