May 5, 2000
USA/Texas
Shaka Sankofa, formerly Gary Graham, black, aged 38
UA 109/00
Death Penalty/ Legal concern
Shaka Sankofa, formerly Gary Graham, is scheduled for
execution on 22 June 2000 for a murder committed when he was 17. Now aged
38, he has spent over half his life on death row in Texas, and came within
hours of execution in
1993 and 1999.
He has admitted to other violent offences committed around the time of the 1981 murder, but has always maintained his innocence of the killing. Issues of guilt aside, however, his sentence is illegal under international law, which bans the death penalty for crimes committed by under-18-year-olds.
On 13 May 1981 Bobby Lambert, a white man, was shot by a black male in a shop car park in Houston in an apparent robbery attempt. A week later, Gary Graham was arrested on unrelated robbery and assault charges. A week after that, he was charged with Lambert's murder when he was identified by an eyewitness to the crime.
At the guilt/innocence phase of the trial, the only evidence
against Graham was this sole eyewitness account. Evidence subsequently
uncovered, however, has called the account's reliability into serious question,
as well as
raising serious concerns about the quality of Gary Graham's
representation at trial. Amnesty International has documented many cases
of shockingly inadequate defence representation of capital defendants in
Texas which have been left unremedied by the appeal courts. In this case,
his trial lawyers appear to have assumed their client's guilt from the
outset because of his involvement in other violent crimes. In 1993, the
defence investigator
stated in an affidavit: 'Because we assumed Gary was
guilty from the start we did not give his case the same attention we would
routinely give a case. We just did not have the time to worry about a guilty
client, and I would
not have felt comfortable trying to find evidence that
would have proved him innocent. It may sound unfair but that's the way
it was.'
The trial lawyers failed to investigate the credibility
of the key eyewitness or to interview other eyewitnesses to the crime,
none of whom has identified Gary Graham as the gunman, despite allegedly
having had a better
view of him. At least two of the eyewitnesses have said
Graham was not the man. Several have said that the gunman was shorter than
Graham. The trial lawyers also failed to interview or present any alibi
witnesses. Five
people claim that Gary Graham was with them several miles
away at the time of the murder. The appeal courts have ruled that these
witnesses are unreliable, although their testimony has never been heard
in open court.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The USA is almost the only country which executes people
for crimes committed when they were children -- those under 18 at the time
of the crime. Since September 1997 there have been eight such executions
reported
worldwide, seven of them in the USA (the other was in
Iran). The global ban on the use of the death penalty against child offenders
is now so widely accepted, and adhered to, that it has become a principle
of customary
international law, binding on all countries, regardless
of which treaties they have or have not ratified.
Since 1973, 87 prisoners have been released from death row in the USA after evidence of their innocence emerged. Contributing factors to these wrongful convictions include inadequate legal representation, prosecutorial and police misconduct, and the use of unreliable physical and witness evidence.
In Texas, the Governor can only grant clemency if the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) recommends it. However Governor Bush has the power of 30-day reprieve, and there is no doubt that he can use his influence over his BPP appointees to have them give particular consideration to a case, as he did with Henry Lee Lucas, whose sentence was commuted because of serious doubts about his guilt. Governor Bush has repeatedly stated that he will only stop the execution of people whose guilt is in doubt. Under international law, the federal government also has an obligation to stop this execution. For further information on the US death penalty, see Failing the Future: Death Penalty Developments, March 1998-March 2000.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send telegrams/faxes/express/airmail letters:
expressing deep concern that Shaka Sankofa, formerly Gary
Graham, is scheduled for execution for a crime committed when he was 17;
pointing out that his death sentence and planned execution violate customary
international law, which is binding on the USA and Texas; expressing outrage
that the USA carried out seven of the world's last eight executions of
child offenders. You may note that in 1997, China, which accounts for more
executions than any other country, abolished the use of the death penalty
against defendants who were under 18 at the time of the crime in order
to comply with its international obligations; expressing concern that serious
doubts remain about his guilt of the crime for which he was sentenced to
death; noting the widespread concern about wrongful capital convictions
in the USA, which has led the Governor of Illinois to suspend executions
in his state; noting Governor Bush's repeated assurances that he will not
allow people to be executed whose guilt is in doubt; calling for this execution
to be stopped and for clemency to be granted.
APPEALS TO:
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
PO Box 13401
Austin, TX 78711-3401
Faxes: 1 512 463 8120
Salutation: Dear Board Members
The Honorable George W. Bush
Governor of Texas
PO Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
Faxes: 1 512 463 1849
Telegrams: Governor Bush, Austin, Texas
Salutation: Dear Governor
President Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500, USA
Fax: 1 202 456 2461
Telegrams: President Clinton, Washington DC
Salutation: Dear Mr President
Vice-President Al Gore
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Fax: 1 202 456 7044
Telegrams: Vice-President Gore, Washington DC
Salutation: Dear Mr Vice-President
LEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
| Return to Shaka Sankofa's Homepage |
