INNOCENT MAN ON TEXAS DEATH ROW ! ! !     UPDATE ON BOB COULSON

The State of Texas has set Bob Coulson an execution date for the 25th of June, 2002.
         Bob was convicted of killing members of his family.
                           He did NOT kill them ! ! !
            Please see Bob's website: http://www.deathrow.at/freebob

...You'll find: a little background on his case; proof that police and prosecutors presented false evidence in his trial in an attempt to try & place him at the scene of the crime; proof that  the star witness has
told well over 70 lies & over another 70 additional incosistent statements against Bob & more.

Bob will be filing his CONDITIONAL pardon request on the 31st of May if the courts have not given him a stay by then.  Bob hopes to have his entire pardon request on his website by the first week in June,
everything else being equal.

There were a number of problems with Bobs trial & appeal.  Here are just a few:

1.  Bobs attorney never went to the crime scene or interviewed neighbors.

2.  His attorney did not present any expert testimony which could have attacked the claims the state made against him (claiming the state wouldn't pay for the experts).

3.  His attorney did no investigating until 1 1/2 years after the murders & only then had someone interviewed a handfull of witnesses on the prosecutions list.  (This attorney has been disbarred twice since Bob's trial due to his actions on other cases).

4.  The police & prsecutors presented false evidence & it was the only piece of evidence (other than his roommates lies) that they tried to use to place him a the scene.

5.  Police lied on the stand.

6.  Bob's roommate lied throughout his entire testimony (he started out giving police 4 different stories & failed a lie detector test on the 4th story-the one used to send Bob to death row).

7.  Prsecutors solicited perjury testimony from bob's roommate.

8.  Presecutors withheld a number of things which they should have turned over to Bob's attorney's prior to the trial as they could have been used to show a number of lies Bob's roommate was telling as well as possibly pointing out other suspects for these murders.

9.  Bob's appeal attorney was appointed to Bob's case with no experience handling death penatly appeals.

10. The appeal attorney had never had any clients at all prior to getting appointed to Bob's case.

11.  No trial work or appeal work.

12.  The attorney had never represented a client at trial, in hearings, on appeals in oral arguments before the courts, etc.

13.  The attorney had never investigated a case before.

14.  The attorney took 5 death penalty cases on the same day, all having the same due date 6 months later. (way too many cases for an attorney, let alone one with no experience.)

15.  The appeals courts in Texas are notorious for refusing to overturn death penalty appeals.

16.  The court refused to overturn Bob's case claiming the fabricated evidence didn't harm his case enough.

17.  During the appeals, a lot of new evidence was found (mostly proving Bob's roommate's numerous lies) but was not admissable in Bob's appeal so no jury or court has seen the evidence.

18.  New evidence that was found during the appeal & could have been used in the appeal was left out by the inexperience of Bob's attorney, thereby losing the evidence in later appeals where Bob was barred from bringing it up.

19.  The judge who handled the most important part of Bob's appeal was not even sworn in under oath at the time so by Texas law, he was not even a judge.  So far, the courts have refused to look at the judge
issue that if the courts agreed would at least get Bob a new set of appeals from the time that judge sat on his case, & more.

Bob is innocent but rather than asking for a full pardon which would get him released from prison, but will be asking for a CONDITIONAL pardon. If the Governor & Board of Pardons & Paroles agree to pardon Bob's conviction (thereby removing it completely) Bob will agree to waive his double jeapardy protection & agree to be retried on the charges.  Bob simply wants a chance to prove his innocence in a court of law.  Bob has consitutionally guaranteed right to a fair trial & a fair appeal, he has had neither.  If this pardon is granted, Bob would continue to be locked up but he would go back to Houston to waitprobably 6 months or so for a new trial.  It will have the same basic result that the appeal court reversing Bob's conviction & ordering that he be retried would have, only this time rather than the courts doing the right thing, the Governor & Board would be doing it.  This conditional pardon is an unconventional way for justice to be served but it is the only way left since the courts have so far refused to act.  This will give the Governor & Board the chance to do the right thing & clear the slate of all the problems in this case & allow both sides to start over from scratch in a new trial.

In Texas, the Board of Pardons & Paroles must recommend to the Governor that a pardon be granted before the Governor can grant it, even then the Governor can turn down the recommendation.  To my knowlege no death row inmate has ever been granted a full pardon or conditional pardon here in
Texas, so Bob has an uphill fight.  Bob has been collection signatures on pardon petitions (and wants to thank each & everyone who has helped) up till this point but with less than 6 weeks until his scheduled
execution date, Bob is now trying to start a letter (or fax) writing campaign targeting the Governor & Board, asking that they grant Bob's pardon request.  Any letter sent in will be copied & put inot a file
that the Governor & all 18 Board members see when they are reviewing Bob's request.  If there is any way you can help Bob in this campaign, he would appreciate it.  Please help Bob flood the Governor & Board with letters supporting his pardon request, every letter counts!!!! Below are some suggestions on things to include in your letter:

-Please type letters, if possible

-all letters need to be in English.

-Please address letters to:  The Honorable Governor of Texas & The Texas Board Of Pardon & Paroles.

-Let them know you want to bring their attention to the capital case of Robert O. Coulson, TDCJ #999115.

-Ask them to grant his pardon request, or that you suuprt them doing so, or both.

-If you know of Bob & his family, please say how, etc.

-If you think Bob is innocent, please say so.

-If you think Bob was denied a fair trial & fair appeal, please say so.(Feel free to list out why you think this from things mentioned above or from bob's website or the petitions he has circulated)

-Please ask them to look at all of the evidence the state withheld from Bob's trial attorney's & all of the other new evidence in Bob's case that no jury trial or appeal court has ever seen.

-They can be long or short, as long as you include Bob's name & number & urge them to grant him a pardon.

-If you think Bob deserves another trial, please say so.

-If you think the state made up evidence, please say so.

-If you think Bob's roommate has lied his way through this case, then please say so.

-Feel free to put anything else you would like.

-Mention that one of the reasons the power of executive clemency exists is to address errors & inequities in the legal system; another is to consider new evidence.

-put your full address & signature @ the bottom.

Letters can be mailed to:

Governor Rick Perry
State Capitol
P.O.Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
USA

or, they can be faxed (with time constraints this is PREFERRED IF POSSIBLE),
please fax to BOTH numbers.  (512)463-1849 & (512)463-8120.

Bob can be reached through this email accont (please include your snail
mail address when ever possible) or at the following snail mail address:

Bob Coulson 999115
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, Texas
77351  USA

The attorney handling Bob's pardon petition can be reached at:

Mary Ann Starks
Attorney-at-Law
c/o Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church
6221 Main St.
Houston, Texas 77030
USA

If you don't want to write any letters, or want to help Bob in others as well, here are some things that would help him:

-If you are in any groups or organizations, please tell everyone about Bob's situation or send this email on to them.

-If you are in any egroups or other email lists, please pass this email on.

-If you are in an organization that has a newsletter, please put Bob's situation in there & ask people to go to his website, write letters, etc.

-If you are in a local chapter of an organization please let other chapters know.

-If you go to internet chat rooms please bring up Bob's situation, etc.

-If you or your organization has a website, please link it to Bob's site.

-If you live in the Houston area, please try to attend 3 rally's that are tenatively planned for May 26th, June 9th & June 23rd.  Further information can be obtained as things get ironed out, they are still in
the planning stages.

-If you are willing to help w/fundraising activities, donations are needed to help pay the expenses surrounding bob's pardon request and the investigation trying to find new evidence in the case.

-Any other ideas or suggestions you have that could help Bob & those fighting on his behalf.

Bob wants to thank each & every one of you for your help.  He couldn't do it without you!

Please do what you can to help correct the injustice that has been done to Bob in this case.
 

News On Bob Coulson

ACLU in support of Bob Coulson

                         From the supporters of Robert (Bob) Coulson

     Execution Date: 25 June 2002 !

     On Friday, November 13, 1992 five (5) members of Bob's family were brutally
     murdered in Houston, Texas. Murdered were his: father (Otis Coulson); mother (Mary
     Coulson); older sister (Robin Coulson); brother-in-law (Rick Wentworth); and younger
     sister (Sarah Coulson). The youngest was Sarah who was 21 years old.

                 TRIAL TESTIMONY SHOWED THE FOLLOWING...

     The murders occurred between 4:00pm and 6.15pm. Bob's family members were
     found in three (3) different rooms in his parents house. Bob's mother and father were
     found in a garage bedroom. Sarah was found in a guest bedroom. Robin and Rick
     were found in his parents master bedroom. Bob's family members were bound and
     gagged (with duct tape and plastic flex cuffs similar to those used by police) and
     suffocated with plastic bags. After Bob's family was murdered gas was poured on their
     bodies and the house was set on fire.

     Bob was arrested on Tuesday, November 17, 1992, after his roommate, Jared
     Althaus, gave police four (4) different statements and then FAILED a polygraph test on
     his fourth story, the story used against Bob at the trial. In Jared's final story he
     CLAIMED that: he helped Bob plan the murders; he dropped off Bob in his parents
     neighborhood prior to the murders; he picked him up in his parents neighborhood after
     the murders. Jared told police that Bob had committed the murders by himself. Jared
     agreed to a twenty (20) year plea bargain (that ended up being reduced to ten (10) to
     testify against Bob.

                 TRIAL TESTIMONY SHOWED THE FOLLOWING...

     When Bob spoke to the police the day after his family was murdered he was wearing
     shorts and a tank top t-shirt and had NO marks, cuts, scratches, bruises, etc. that you
     would expect to find on someone if they had been in a fight or struggle the day before.
     He did not have any burns or singed hair (on his head arms, legs, eyebrows ect) that
     one would expect someone to have IF they had poured and lit three (3) separate
     gasoline fires in an enclosed area the day before. There was NO eyewitness testimony
     placing Bob at the scene of the murders, or even in the neighbourhood. There was NO
     forensics evidence (fingerprints, blood, hair, fibres, skin ect) linking Bob to the
     murders. There was NO forensics evidence linking items Jared claimed were used in
     the murders to the murders themselves, or to Bob. Bob pled NOT-guilty and testified
     in his own defense for two and a half days. He DENIED killing his family. He was
     convicted and sentenced to death.

     Bob has had his appeal denied twice (once since discovering the manufactured
     evidence) and he is currently in his federal habeas in the Federal District Court. If Bob
     can get a new trial he feels that he can prove his innocence.

                            Contact Bob Directly at:
                  Bob Coulson # 999115
                         Polunsky Unit
                     3872 FM 350 South
                     Livingston, Texas
                            77351 USA

     To reach Bob's supporters email: freerobertc@hotmail.com
                              Or use:  freebobc2002@yahoo.com
     (Emails will be printed for Bob, please leave a snail mail address, so he can answer)

     Bob's Investigator
     Scott Belshaw
     1305 Praire, Suite 200
     Houston
     Texas 77002-2026
     USA
     Tel. USA (001) (713) 227-6667
 

     DEFENSE FUND ADDRESS:
     RC Defense Fund,
     c/o Box 1501,
     Coventry
     RI 02816
     USA

     OR WIRE:
     Fleet Bank,
     East Greenwich,
     RI
     USA
     Account # 9426435766
     Routing # 011500010