Hey everyone,
Our next meeting will be this Sunday, February 1st at 7pm in the Associates Room of the Union. Bring your chalk if you have it and have time to chalk sidewalks afterwards.
Counter Terror with Justice
You guys may have noticed that since Obama got elected he's been doing all kinds of neat stuff like issuing executive orders to ban torture and close Guantanamo. We can do more chalking or work out a campaign on this soon if we want to. You can read more about Amnesty's 100 days campaigns on their home page: http://www.amnestyusa.org/
Statewide Conference
In case you haven't heard, we pushed the date for our statewide conference back to April, probably the 18th. I have been communicating with Rosa Clemente, the who was the Cynthia McKinney's Vice Presidential candidate for the Green Party in this last election. I think she would be a really good speaker, she is available for the date and she is interested in coming to OU. The problem is we don't have any money from the Speaker's Bureau to pay her way here. So, if you know of a department here on campus, an organization, or anyone who would contribute to funding this, or if you want to help fill out the applications, please let me know ASAP. If we're going to get her here we need to finalize it in the next week. If you want to know more about her, check out her www.myspace.com/rosaclemente (her website doesn't seem to be working). If you have any other suggestions for speakers, workshops, or faculty who should be involved, let me know.
Groovefest
Andrews Park has been reserved so we have officially set a date for Groovefest for April 26th. At the last meeting we set tentative due dates for artwork and band submissions (Friday, March 6th) and emcee tryouts (Saturday, March 7th). This Sunday we need to finalize the details on our call for artists so we can get our publicity and fundraising going.
Valentine's Day Fundraiser
At our last couple of meetings we have been brainstorming about a Valentine's Day fundraiser to get donations toward AI and our group funds (the latter of which will go mainly to Groovefest and our Statewide Conference in April). So far we have come up with a bake-sale/art show/craft fair/yard sale with music and party pics. I think if we get even a third of that to happen we should be able to make some money and have a great time. But, we need to finalize who/what/when on Sunday.
Gaza/Israel
Amnesty has researchers currently on the ground in Gaza. You can keep up to date with their findings on the Amnesty USA home page here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/
Please refer to this link to get information on the crisis in Gaza, recommended actions, and available resources:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/gazaaction.pdf
Urgent Action
Larry Swearingen was granted a stay of execution by the US Court of Appeals this week. We don't need to take any further action right now. For the details, you can see the UA update at the bottom of this email.
That's all for now, as always, call me if you have any questions.
See you soon!
Sarah
__________________________________________________
27 January 2009
Further information on UA 17/09 (21 January 2009) – Death penalty / Legal concern
USA (Texas) Larry Ray Swearingen (m), white, aged 37
Larry Swearingen was granted a stay of execution on 26 January 2009 by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the federal court one level below the US Supreme Court with jurisdiction over Texas cases. He was scheduled to be put to death in Texas on the evening of 27 January 2009.
Larry Swearingen was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of Melissa Trotter in 1998. Melissa Trotter went missing on 8 December 1998. Larry Swearingen was arrested three days later, and has been incarcerated ever since. The body of Melissa Trotter was found in a forest on 2 January 1999. Larry Swearingen was tried for her murder, and sentenced to death.
He maintains his innocence of the murder. Several forensic experts have provided statements and testimony that support his claim. One of these experts, Dr Joye Carter, is the former Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County in Texas who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at Larry Swearingen’s trial that in her opinion, Melissa Trotter had died 25 days before her body was found. In an affidavit signed in 2007, Dr Carter stated that she had looked again at the case and changed her opinion. She concluded that Melissa Trotter’s body had been left in the forest within two weeks of it being found.
If accurate, this would mean that the body was dumped at a time when Larry Swearingen was
already in custody. Other experts have stated that the body may have been left in the
woods only a few days before it was found (see original UA).
The Fifth Circuit panel did not address the merits of Larry Swearingen’s innocence claims,
but only considered whether they were sufficient to overcome the obstacles under federal
law preventing the court from authorizing the filing of a successive habeas corpus petition
in the lower District Court. Under this federal statute, the prisoner must show that "(i)
the factual predicate for the claim could not have been discovered previously through the
exercise of due diligence; and (ii) the facts underlying the claim, if proven and viewed in
light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing
evidence that, but for constitutional error, no reasonable fact-finder would have found the
applicant guilty of the underlying offense."
The Fifth Circuit said that there were "two independent gates" through which a motion to
file a successive petition must pass before the merits of the prisoner’s claim will be
addressed. First, the Fifth Circuit would have to determine whether the motion made a
prima facie (on first sight) case that the above requirements of the federal statute were
met, including that there is "a sufficient showing of possible merit to warrant a fuller
exploration by the District Court." Secondly, once the case was remanded to the District
Court, the latter would also have to determine whether the requirements of the federal
statute had been met before it could address the merits of the successive petition.
The Fifth Circuit court held that "given the importance of Dr Carter’s expert testimony to
the State’s case, we find that Swearingen has made a prima facie showing that but for the
constitutional error of the State sponsoring the false testimony of Dr Carter, no
reasonable juror could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." The constitutional
precedent on this issue is the 1972 Supreme Court ruling in Giglio v. United States. The
Fifth Circuit also found that Larry Swearingen had made a prime facie case that his legal
representation at trial had been constitutionally deficient, including in cross-examining
Dr Carter. Here the precedent is Strickland v. Washington (1984). The Fifth Circuit panel
therefore authorized Larry Swearingen to file a successive habeas corpus petition in the
District Court limited to these issues. The court stressed that "this grant is
tentative" in that the District Court "must dismiss" the petition, "without reaching
the merits," if that court were to find that Swearingen had not satisfied the federal
statutory requirements relating to successive petitions.
One of the three Fifth Circuit judges wrote a separate, concurring opinion. He said that
he wished to address "the elephant that I perceive in the corner of this room: actual
innocence." Judge Jacques Wiener continued: "Consistently repeating the mantra that, to
date, the Supreme Court of the United States has never expressly recognized actual
innocence as a basis for habeas corpus relief in a death penalty case, this court has
uniformly rejected stand-alone claims of actual innocence as a constitutional ground for
prohibiting imposition of the death penalty." Judge Wiener noted, however, that the
Supreme Court had made certain statements that "at least strongly signal that, under the
right circumstances, it might add those capital defendants who are actually innocent to the
list of persons who – like the insane, the mentally retarded, and the very young – are
constitutionally ineligible for the death penalty."
Judge Wiener said that could foresee the "real possibility" that the District Court might
interpret the expert forensic opinion as clear and convincing evidence that Larry
Swearingen could not possibly have killed Melissa Trotter and yet still "find it
impossible to force the actual-innocence camel through the eye of either the Giglio or
Strickland needle, and thus have no choice but to deny habeas relief to an actually
innocent person." As such, Judge Wiener suggested, Swearingen’s predicament might be
"the very case" for the full Fifth Circuit Court or the US Supreme Court to "recognize
actual innocence as a ground for federal habeas relief." He concluded that "to me, this
question is a brooding omnipresence in capital habeas jurisprudence that has been left
unanswered for too long."
There have been five executions in the USA this year, three of them in Texas. Since
executions resumed in 1977, there have been 1,141 executions in the USA, 426 of them in
Texas. Among those who have been put to death by the state are people whose guilt was in
doubt to the end. Since 1977, more than 100 people have been released from death rows in
the USA on grounds of innocence. The average time between being sentenced to death and
exoneration in these cases was nearly 10 years.
No further action by the UA Network is requested at present.
Many thanks to all who sent appeals.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Urgent Action - Death Penalty case in Texas
Hey everyone,
If you have access to a fax machine you should write letters to the Governor and Board of Pardons and Paroles in Texas about the case of Larry Swearingen. He's scheduled to be executed tomorrow so the appeals should be sent by the end of the day today. You can get a printer-friendly version of the Urgent Action here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa01709.pdf
Our next meeting will be this Sunday, February 1st at 7pm in the Associates Room of the Union. More updates coming soon.
Stay warm and safe!
Sarah
21 January 2009
UA 17/09 - Death penalty / Legal concern
USA (Texas) Larry Ray Swearingen (m), white, aged 37
Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 27 January. He was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of Melissa Trotter in 1998. He maintains his innocence of the murder. Several forensic experts have provided statements and testimony supportive of his claim.
Melissa Trotter went missing on 8 December 1998. Larry Swearingen was arrested three days later, and has been incarcerated ever since. The body of Melissa Trotter was found in a forest on 2 January 1999. Larry Swearingen was tried for her murder, and sentenced to death.
On 14 January 2009, Larry Swearingen's lawyers filed an appeal in the US Supreme Court to stay his execution on grounds of innocence. The petition argues that "the State's only theory of guilt, which was that Mr. Swearingen killed the victim and left her body in the forest on December 8, 1998, twenty-five (25) days before the corpse was recovered on January 2, 1999, is not just implausible, it is utterly impossible." The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the motion for a stay of execution.
In support of this innocence claim, the petition cites the opinions of three current or former Chief Medical Examiners and another forensic pathologist. One of these experts, Dr Joye Carter, is the former Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County in Texas who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at Larry Swearingen's trial. At the trial she had testified that in her opinion, Melissa Trotter's death had occurred 25 days before her body was found. In an affidavit signed in 2007, Dr Carter stated that she had looked again at the case and changed her opinion. She stated that she had reviewed the autopsy report and photographs and also "several pieces of forensically important information that, to the best of my recollection, were not made available to [me] during trial or pretrial proceedings." This information included video footage of the crime scene taken on the day Melissa Trotter was found, medical records giving Melissa Trotter's weight immediately prior to her disappearance, and the temperature data for the area in which she was found for the period 8 December 1998 to 2 January 1999.
In her affidavit, Dr Carter concluded that Melissa Trotter's body had been left in the forest within two weeks of it being found. If accurate, this would mean that the body was dumped at a time when Larry Swearingen was already in custody. Another forensic pathologist, and former Chief Medical Examiner for Nueces County, Texas, Dr Lloyd White, has given a written statement that he supports Dr Carter's conclusions based on her 2007 re-evaluation of the evidence. He also agrees with Dr Gerald Larkin, another forensic expert, who concluded that "Ms Trotter's body was exposed in the wood for several days only, and not for two or three weeks". Dr White states that there is strong support for the conclusion that the body was left in the woods "at least one week after Mr. Swearingen was incarcerated on December 11, 1998, and probably more than two weeks after".
The petition to the Supreme Court argues that the post-conviction expert evidence amounts to "uncontested forensic pathology showing that Mr. Swearingen could not possibly have been the person who killed the victim. The only way to convict would be for the jury to conclude that Mr. Swearingen had an accomplice who stored the body so it would not decompose and disposed of it later. That, however, is speculation so rank that the State has never even proposed it. Indeed, it collides with the State's insistence at all stages of proceedings that no one but Mr. Swearingen killed the victim and threw her into the woods".
Larry Swearingen has repeatedly sought full DNA testing of crime scene evidence. According to the appeal before the US Supreme Court, "the DNA analysis that the State has conducted so far is compelling evidence that Mr. Swearingen is innocent. State examiners found male blood under the victim's fingernails. Testing excluded Mr. Swearingen as the donor." The petition also notes that at an evidentiary hearing in 2008, a co-worker of Melissa Trotter had testified that, only weeks before her disappearance, another man had "made serious threats to rape and strangle the victim".
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Texas continues to account for a large number of the USA's executions. Of the 1,138 people put to death nationwide since 1977 when executions resumed in the USA, 424 have been in Texas. There have been two executions in the USA so far this year: one in Texas, one in Alabama.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally. To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values. It not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly, to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms. It has not been proved to have a special deterrent effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim's family, and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it. It is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it. It is an affront to human dignity. It should be abolished.
Today, some 138 countries are abolitionist in law or practice. In 2007, the UN General Assembly called for a moratorium on executions worldwide and for retentionist countries to work towards abolition.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible (please include Larry Swearingen's prisoner number, #999361, in appeals):
- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of Melissa Trotter and explaining that you are not seeking to condone the manner of her death or to downplay the suffering caused;
- opposing the execution of Larry Swearingen;
- noting that several forensic experts, including the former Harris Country Chief Medical Examiner, who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at the trial, have provided expert opinion supportive of Larry Swearingen's claim of innocence;
- calling for Larry Swearingen's execution to be halted and his death sentence to be commuted;
- at a minimum calling on the Governor to stop the execution and allow full DNA testing to be conducted.
APPEALS TO:
Rissie L. Owens
Presiding Officer, Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, TX 78757
Fax: 1 512 467 0945
Salutation: Dear Ms. Owens
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY
All appeals must arrive before 27 January, 2009
If you have access to a fax machine you should write letters to the Governor and Board of Pardons and Paroles in Texas about the case of Larry Swearingen. He's scheduled to be executed tomorrow so the appeals should be sent by the end of the day today. You can get a printer-friendly version of the Urgent Action here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa01709.pdf
Our next meeting will be this Sunday, February 1st at 7pm in the Associates Room of the Union. More updates coming soon.
Stay warm and safe!
Sarah
21 January 2009
UA 17/09 - Death penalty / Legal concern
USA (Texas) Larry Ray Swearingen (m), white, aged 37
Larry Swearingen is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 27 January. He was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of Melissa Trotter in 1998. He maintains his innocence of the murder. Several forensic experts have provided statements and testimony supportive of his claim.
Melissa Trotter went missing on 8 December 1998. Larry Swearingen was arrested three days later, and has been incarcerated ever since. The body of Melissa Trotter was found in a forest on 2 January 1999. Larry Swearingen was tried for her murder, and sentenced to death.
On 14 January 2009, Larry Swearingen's lawyers filed an appeal in the US Supreme Court to stay his execution on grounds of innocence. The petition argues that "the State's only theory of guilt, which was that Mr. Swearingen killed the victim and left her body in the forest on December 8, 1998, twenty-five (25) days before the corpse was recovered on January 2, 1999, is not just implausible, it is utterly impossible." The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the motion for a stay of execution.
In support of this innocence claim, the petition cites the opinions of three current or former Chief Medical Examiners and another forensic pathologist. One of these experts, Dr Joye Carter, is the former Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County in Texas who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at Larry Swearingen's trial. At the trial she had testified that in her opinion, Melissa Trotter's death had occurred 25 days before her body was found. In an affidavit signed in 2007, Dr Carter stated that she had looked again at the case and changed her opinion. She stated that she had reviewed the autopsy report and photographs and also "several pieces of forensically important information that, to the best of my recollection, were not made available to [me] during trial or pretrial proceedings." This information included video footage of the crime scene taken on the day Melissa Trotter was found, medical records giving Melissa Trotter's weight immediately prior to her disappearance, and the temperature data for the area in which she was found for the period 8 December 1998 to 2 January 1999.
In her affidavit, Dr Carter concluded that Melissa Trotter's body had been left in the forest within two weeks of it being found. If accurate, this would mean that the body was dumped at a time when Larry Swearingen was already in custody. Another forensic pathologist, and former Chief Medical Examiner for Nueces County, Texas, Dr Lloyd White, has given a written statement that he supports Dr Carter's conclusions based on her 2007 re-evaluation of the evidence. He also agrees with Dr Gerald Larkin, another forensic expert, who concluded that "Ms Trotter's body was exposed in the wood for several days only, and not for two or three weeks". Dr White states that there is strong support for the conclusion that the body was left in the woods "at least one week after Mr. Swearingen was incarcerated on December 11, 1998, and probably more than two weeks after".
The petition to the Supreme Court argues that the post-conviction expert evidence amounts to "uncontested forensic pathology showing that Mr. Swearingen could not possibly have been the person who killed the victim. The only way to convict would be for the jury to conclude that Mr. Swearingen had an accomplice who stored the body so it would not decompose and disposed of it later. That, however, is speculation so rank that the State has never even proposed it. Indeed, it collides with the State's insistence at all stages of proceedings that no one but Mr. Swearingen killed the victim and threw her into the woods".
Larry Swearingen has repeatedly sought full DNA testing of crime scene evidence. According to the appeal before the US Supreme Court, "the DNA analysis that the State has conducted so far is compelling evidence that Mr. Swearingen is innocent. State examiners found male blood under the victim's fingernails. Testing excluded Mr. Swearingen as the donor." The petition also notes that at an evidentiary hearing in 2008, a co-worker of Melissa Trotter had testified that, only weeks before her disappearance, another man had "made serious threats to rape and strangle the victim".
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Texas continues to account for a large number of the USA's executions. Of the 1,138 people put to death nationwide since 1977 when executions resumed in the USA, 424 have been in Texas. There have been two executions in the USA so far this year: one in Texas, one in Alabama.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally. To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive, diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values. It not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly, to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms. It has not been proved to have a special deterrent effect. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way, on grounds of race and class. It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing explanations that could inform positive strategies. It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim's family, and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner. It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it. It is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it. It is an affront to human dignity. It should be abolished.
Today, some 138 countries are abolitionist in law or practice. In 2007, the UN General Assembly called for a moratorium on executions worldwide and for retentionist countries to work towards abolition.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible (please include Larry Swearingen's prisoner number, #999361, in appeals):
- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of Melissa Trotter and explaining that you are not seeking to condone the manner of her death or to downplay the suffering caused;
- opposing the execution of Larry Swearingen;
- noting that several forensic experts, including the former Harris Country Chief Medical Examiner, who performed the autopsy of Melissa Trotter and testified at the trial, have provided expert opinion supportive of Larry Swearingen's claim of innocence;
- calling for Larry Swearingen's execution to be halted and his death sentence to be commuted;
- at a minimum calling on the Governor to stop the execution and allow full DNA testing to be conducted.
APPEALS TO:
Rissie L. Owens
Presiding Officer, Board of Pardons and Paroles
Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Austin, TX 78757
Fax: 1 512 467 0945
Salutation: Dear Ms. Owens
Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Fax: 1 512 463 1849
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY
All appeals must arrive before 27 January, 2009
Opportunity with Choice USA
Here is an opportunity that might be of interest to some of you:
Choice USA is looking for high school, community college, and undergraduate students who are interested in issues of sexual and reproductive health to apply to our Midwestern Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute (RJLI). At the RJLI students will expand their knowledge of reproductive health, rights and justice; hear from experts in the social justice movement, connect with others who share their passions and learn how to take action to create change!
Please help us circulate this information to undergraduate students that you think might be interested in applying! A flyer is attached and more information is provided below.
Thanks so much,
Joy Lawson
p.s. if you know of any other contacts at Midwestern schools that we should be in touch with, please let us know.
What Do You Care About?
Sex Education
The Environment
Violence against Women
HIV/AIDS
Immigrant Rights
Economic Justice
LGBTQ Rights
Access to Healthcare
Birth Control
So do we.
Make the connections.
Ann Arbor, MI
March 13-15, 2009
Apply today!
We are looking for students in the Midwest who are interested in issues of sexual and reproductive health to apply to our Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute (RJLI). The RJLI is an all expenses paid weekend long training that takes an in-depth look at issues that affect our reproductive freedom - and connects those issues to the broader social justice movement.
At the RJLI you will:
Expand your knowledge of reproductive health, rights, and justice;
Hear from experts in the social justice movement,
Connect with others who share your passions ;
Learn how to take action!
As a graduate of the Institute, you will return to your community ready to make real change and empowered by a regional network of fellow pro-choice activists along with the long-term support of Choice USA staff.
Apply Today!!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact: jlawson@choiceusa.org.
Hope to see you in March!
Best,
Joy Lawson
O: 202.719.9443
C: 202.615.2965
F: 202.965.7701
P.S. Can't attend? Consider donating so that another young person can have the opportunity!
Got something to say? Check out our blog:
www.choiceusa.org/choicewords
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