Tony Medina
Texas Death Row
Information provided by Tony
Medina And His Supporters
OCTOBER 2004 -
TONY MEDINA
SPEAKS
For almost the
entire
last decade of my life, I have been an unwilling witness to the
unjustness
in the administration of capital punishment. I’ve witnessed the courts
knowingly
send innocent men to their deaths, while claiming that since they were
given
a forum (a “fair” trial) to prove it- and didn’t – to execute them was
now
the State’s right. I’ve watched others killed behind prosecutors being
allowed
to get away with deliberately manufacturing and planting evidence,
despite
their deafening protests, because the attorneys who were Court
Appointed
to them were unwilling to stand up and fight for their indigent
clients,
and would actually help the State (who paid their checks) by
neglecting
to do even the most basic investigation. I’ve seen mentally incompetent
men
die, who were so far into their own world, that they didn’t know the
death
chamber they were being transported to from a black hole. I‘ve also
watched
helplessly as juveniles were unlawfully murdered, who in coming here
and
being allowed to grow up, lost the immaturity which brought them here
to
begin with.
My name is ANTHONY MEDINA (Tony), and I am a soon to be a 30 years old
Texas
death row inmate. Eight years ago, when I was brought to death row, my
name
was stripped from me, to be replaced by a number. 999204
On august 1st 1996 after a joke of a trial which lasted a mere 5 days
(41/2
used by the State), I was sentenced to death for a crime I did not
commit.
But for me, just telling you I did not commit the crime, is not enough.
After
all, I’m sure you’ve heard this before. So I’m hoping, and even
praying,
that you will allow me to share a little about myself with you while
also
pointing out a few F ACTS, all of which are now public record and have
been
filed in my appeal.
The foundation for the nightmare my life has become was laid close to
17
years ago. I was a young, impressionable 12 years old wanting to make
friends
with the older kids at a new school. So I began running around with,
and
then became a member of what we called a gang. Looking back I can see
all
we really were was a bunch of hard-headed kids who liked to skip school
so
we could drink and do drugs. My grades soon fell. The next year was
even
worse. I’d seen my best friend shot down in the streets and instead of
turning
away from the negative lifestyle I was leading, I embraced it even
more.
Some would call the neighbourhood I grew up in; dangerous, drug
infested,
plagued by gangs… But for me, it had become home. In the streets I
could
do what I wanted away from the eyes of my parents. My family soon began
to
worry about me, but they still didn’t know of the trouble I was getting
into.
They switched me to a new school, a Christian school, where I was
introduced
to a whole new world. Though I still got into trouble there, and at the
next
school I attended, my parents had unknowingly helped me get away from
the
gang. And I stayed away for almost 5 years.
By the time I was arrested in September of 1994 I had become a very
active
member of the gang once again. I was lucky and my paid attorney was
able
to get me more probation and only 90 days in a “boot camp” program.
While
I was in jail and boot camp, I became a father. Twice. I’d
had
a son and daughter by 2 different girls. Because my head still wasn’t
screwed
on straight the 90 days ended up becoming 8 1/2 months. But, by the
time
I graduated I had decided to separate myself from the gang for good and
be
a father to my children. It was easier said then done though. For the
first
couple months I found myself falling back into old following in my
father’s
footsteps, and began trying to build a life. I thought I had made it.
Had finally got free of my misspent past. I knew some of the younger
kids
in the gang resented my walking away, I just didn’t know
how
much. But 1 was about to find out. . . .
I spent New Years Eve 1996 with my cousin and
several
friends from the gang. These weren’t my original plans, but its how the
night
played out. About 2:30 in the morning, a couple miles from where I
stood
at a friend’s house drinking beer and smoking weed with at least
10
other people, a drive-by shooting happened. Three people were shot, two
of
them fatally. These are facts. Though the police know this, they still
allege
that I was one of 7 people in the car when the crime was committed.
Only
3 people testified at trial that I was in the car. None of them could
agree
on when the drive-by occurred, who sat where or when, or what happened
before
and after. All they agreed on was that I eventually sat in the front
and
committed the crime. Oh, and that they didn’t know what I was going to
do!
They admit they were there. BUT, between them, they gave at least 11
different
statements. I was picked up and interrogated on January 5th. I denied
being
involved and refused to give the police the confession they wanted. On
the
6th I was charged with assault for a fight at a friend’s house and sent
to
county jail. These are facts. On January 10th one of the 3 guys who
would
later testify against me was listed by Houston Police as “considered
armed
and dangerous” … and “suspected of being the shooter” in the drive-by.
He
was arrested after a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle used earlier
in
an armed robbery. Again, these are facts. Facts that were kept hidden
by
the state. On the 11th another one of the 3 was arrested. Both of these
guys
were charged with capital murder, and both had their charges dropped
after
telling the police that I committed the crime. None of this was ever
heard
by the jury.
Another state witness against me, who was presented as a “family man”,
had
a recent drug charge dropped soon after he gave the police a statement
painting
me a violent man. This same person had several past convictions,
including
beating up his grandmother. On the morning of the day, he was called to
testify,
he was charged with sexual assault. .. A charge later dismissed despite
him
being identified by the victim, who he knew. Facts. All facts. But
never
given to the defense or heard by the jury. A few more facts? How about
5
people found by my appeal lawyers who gave affidavits saying I
did
not commit this crime. Who were never contacted by my lawyers at trial?
Some
were told by the real shooter that he did it, and that he planned on
blaming
me. One had given statements to the police saying who the real shooter
was.
These are only a handful of the facts not presented to the jury and
that
I am now struggling to get heard.
My trial attorney did almost nothing to help me save my life; after all
I
wasn’t the one paying him.
My original State Habeas lawyer filed a plagiarized writ more then 4
months
late. If I had not received help in trying to remove him from my case I
would
be dead now. As it is I received a second chance at my State Habeas and
got
my first writ attorney suspended for 5 years from the State Bar.
Through out all of my ups and downs, I’ve had a small handful of my
family
by my side. I’ve tried finding pen-friends. A few offered to help, only
to
end up burning me and leaving me in even worse shape. Only 2 have
stayed
with me for any amount of time and they try to help me as much as
possible.
So I find myself writing you. Not only with
the
hopes of finding someone capable of helping me save my life, but also
looking
for a friend willing to walk with me through my struggles.
I’ve grown into a different person during my
years
on death row. I’m a self-taught poet and artist who tries to relieve
myself
of negative thoughts and emotions through my poetry and art. I’ve been
shaped
into an activist fighting to end the DEATH PENALTY. I’m now a father of
3,
my last being a son born just before my trial to my other son’s mother.
Above all, I’m a human being… Even if Texas feels it must treat us all
like
animals.
Hopefully I haven’t bored you too much. If you think you might be who
I’
m looking for. . … I would like to hear of you.
TONY MEDINA #999204
Polunski unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston TEXAS 77351
October 2004
First impressions by Tony Medina
Standing on the
catwalk-handcuffed I'am prodded like a dangerous wild beast. Behind me
the devil cloaked in
GRAY stands
with a nightstick in his hand! Ready to crush my skull
with a single blow, he
pushes me
into my destiny into a cage!
The cell door is
slammed shut and the cuffs removed as I'am left to face the dark empty
lonelyness begins to
fall.
Hoping to reliever the pain I reach and turn on the light. As I
stare into the light I
can
feel the movement as the concrete walls close in on me.
Reality has set in
as I
turn in this man made tomb to face the outside world. beyond the
bars of this cage and
the
walls of this cell, lyes the life I was forced to leave. Society
sees me as nothing but
a
number, a reflection of everything they deem wrong.
It is September
13th, 1996
and I'am now lost to the world as i spend my first night on
"DEATH ROW".
When I was told by
my friend
in The Netherlands that he wanted to put some of my poems and a picture of me on
the
new website at the radiostation where he worked, at first I was excited and I was
all
pumped up to write something. Then as the time passed,
the excitement also
passed, and with
the excitement the desire to write something to put on this website.
My name is Tony
Medina, to the state, all their officials and one day if they have their
way, to the mongue,
I'am called
simply #999204 I have been incarcerated since january
5th, 1996 and have been
on death
row since september of that same year.
Some people in my
position can not understand why I would not be excited about
someone like my friend
Emile who
wanted to help me by setting up a webpage for me, but
then those people
probably have not
faced the failures that I have.
For the past three
years I have struggled to get my voice heard, for the past three years I
have written letter
after letter, I have sent out stacks of mail begging, pleading and
seeking the help that I
need
to save my life. I say three years eventhough I have been on
death row a little over
four
you see for the first year, I did not know how to do anything
for myself. I did not
know
how to even go about saving my life.
I had come from the
streets. I had no knowledge of the law, or how it worked it's crooked
ways to kill innocent.
I
did not know then what I know now and I did not have anyone to
help me. With the help
of
two or three others in this dreadfull place I learned, I was
showed how to compose
legal
letters, I was shown how to write organizations asking for
help, I was given
adress after
adress. Still all this did me no good. BUT, if it wasn't for
these few inmates who
where
unselfish enough to teach me, I wouldn't have begun the
journey that has
brought me
here, to where I am now.
This brings me to
why I
was not, after thinking about it, excited about writing for a
webpage. For the last
three
years I have written for webpages, I have written letters to
lawyers, and judges,
and
investigators, I have written to lawschools, I have written
anyone who I felt may
be
able to help me. I am innocent of the crime I was sentenced to
death for. I can prove
this,
I can prove that I'am not guilty, but to do this I need your
help. It is only with
your
help, and others like you that I can have a chance to save my
life. It is only with
your
help that the "legalized murders" committed by the state of
Texas be stopped, one
at
a time.
Here in Texas the
poor, like myself and too many others can not get the adequate legal
repesentation that we
need.
So far too often the poor are convicted for crimes they did
not commit. I am a
father of three who can not hold his children because the state seeks
to kill me for a crime
I
did not commit. I am here because I did not have the money to
hire my own attorney,
but
instead was forced to accept a lawyer from the same system
who sought to convict
me.
I am a son who can not hug his parents, a brother who can not
council his sisters, I
am
a human who is caged like an animal!
I write this no
longer expecting a miracle, a savior from across the seas to come and
save my
life single handed. If
you would like to find out more about me or my situation, you
can write to me at:
Tony Medina
Polunsky Unit D.R.
12002 F.M. 350 South
Livingston, Texas
77351 USA
Email
Tony through his supporters - tony@freetonymedina.com
If you only wish to sent help/contributions to my defense fund, they
can be
sent to me at:
Gerechtigkeit für Unschuldige (
Justice for the innocent) e.V.
Deutsche Bank Osnabrück
BLZ: 26570024
Kto-Nr.: 0244772
IBAN: DE19 2657 0024 0024 4772 00
BIC: DEUTDEDB265
or
via paypal to :
justicefortheinnocent@freetonymedina.com
Tony Medina at age 17
The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Inmates
Contact us for more information.
info@ccadp.org
"The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now"
This page
was last updated December 12, 2005 Canadian Coalition Against the Death
Penalty
This page is
maintained
and updated by Dave Parkinson
and
Tracy Lamourie