TCADP

*Update* Judge Mitchell has ordered a modification of McCarthy’s execution date to June 26, 2013. Read more from the Dallas Morning News.

On March 29, 2013, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins asked State District Judge Larry Mitchell to modify the execution date of Kimberly McCarthy.  McCarthy had been scheduled to be executed next week on April 3, 2013 for the 1997 murder of Dorothy Booth in Dallas County.  According to the Dallas Morning News (“Dallas County DA Craig Watkins asks judge to temporarily delay woman’s execution while bills pending before legislature,” March 29, 2013), Watkins asked “for the delay to await whether the Texas legislature passes six bills that could impact the application of the death penalty in Texas,” including legislation aimed at addressing claims that racial bias might have been a factor in the decision to seek or impose a sentence of death.


Earlier this year, Judge Mitchell halted and rescheduled a January 29, 2013 execution date for Kimberly McCarthy in order to give her attorneys more time to pursue an appeal based on racial discrimination in the jury selection process.  According to attorney Maurie Levin, of the twelve jurors seated at trial, all were white, except one, and eligible non-white jurors were excluded from serving by the State.

A motion to move the execution date is still pending before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.  According to the Dallas Morning News, “Mitchell said at the hearing that if the appellate court had not ruled by the end of the day Monday, he would issue and order moving the execution date” to June 26, 2013.

Read more from the Dallas Morning News.  Read earlier posts about Kimberly McCarthy here and here.

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Earlier today, State District Judge Larry Marshall stayed the execution of Kimberly McCarthy, which was scheduled to take place this evening.  It would have been the first Texas execution in 2013 and the fourth execution involving a female since 1982.  The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office did not appeal the decision but said that the execution had been reset for April 3.  Judge Marshall granted the stay in order to provide McCarthy’s attorneys with more time to pursue an appeal based on racial discrimination in the jury selection process.

One of McCarthy’s attorneys, Maurie Levin, issued the following statement in response to the stay:

“We are very pleased that we will now have an opportunity to present evidence of discrimination in the selection of the jury that sentenced Kimberly McCarthy to death. Of the twelve jurors seated at trial, all were white, except one, and eligible non-white jurors were excluded from serving by the State. As recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court (Miller-El v. Dretke, 2005), these facts must be understood in the context of the troubling and long-standing history of racial discrimination in jury selection in Dallas County, including at the time of Ms. McCarthy’s trial.”

Maurie Levin, attorney

Capital Punishment Clinic, University of Texas School of Law

January 29, 2013

Read more in the Houston Chronicle (as reported by the Associated Press) and the Austin Chronicle (link provided by Steve Hall at StandDown Texas).

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The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Kimberly McCarthy on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, despite troubling questions about racial bias in the jury selection process.  Please take action now by calling Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and urging him to request a stay of execution.

Background on the Case

Kimberly McCarthy was convicted of the 1997 murder of Dorothy Booth in Dallas County.  Her original conviction was reversed on the basis of the erroneous admission of a statement she made upon arrest.  McCarthy was again convicted and sentenced to death in 2002 after a trial in which the guilt phase lasted only one day.

Troubling questions surround the jury selection process in her trial – of the 12 jurors selected, all but one were white.  According to McCarthy’s attorneys, the state struck three non-white prospective jurors (21% of its total strikes).  Of the 64 people questioned on individual voir dire, only 4 were not white.  Of these individuals, only 3 were African American.  None of these figures reflect the racial demographics of Dallas County.

There is a long, documented history of racially-biased jury selection practices in Dallas County.  The clemency video of Thomas Miller-El, who was eventually removed from death row because of these practices, features interviews with Dallas County jurors, judges, and prosecutors about the discrimination in the jury selection system.

McCarthy is one of ten women currently on death row in Texas.  Late last week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected her petition for clemency.  Since 1982, the State has executed three women, including Frances Newton in 2005.

Action Request

On Sunday, January 27, 2013, Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, spoke about the case of Kimberly McCarthy during his sermon.  Please join Dr. Haynes and many others in appealing to Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins to request a stay of execution for Kimberly McCarthy.

Please call or fax Mr. Watkins to express your support for a Texas Racial Justice Act and to request a stay of execution for Kimberly McCarthy, who was convicted and sentenced to death by a jury from which African Americans were excluded on the basis of their race.  If we believe in a Racial Justice Act, we must also believe Ms. McCarthy does not deserve to be executed.

Contact information for Mr. Watkins:

The Hon. Craig Watkins

Dallas County District Attorney’s Office

214-653-3600 – phone

214-653-2924 - fax

Thank you for taking action to stop this execution. Stay tuned to TCADP for any updates on this case.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 12, 2012

CONTACT: Kristin Houlé, Executive Director
512-441-1808 (office); 512-552-5948 (cell)
khoule@tcadp.org

Use of Death Penalty Geographically Isolated, Arbitrarily Imposed in Texas,
According to New Report by TCADP

Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex led state in pursuit of the death penalty in 2012

(Austin, Texas) — More than half of all new death sentences were imposed in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex this year, while no new death sentences were imposed in Harris County for the third time in five years, according to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s (TCADP) new report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2012: The Year in Review.

New death sentences in Texas have declined more than 75% since 2002 and remain near historic low levels in 2012.  To date this year, juries have condemned nine new individuals to death in Texas, a slight increase over 2011 and 2010, when new death sentences fell to their lowest number since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ revised death penalty statute in 1976.  The verdict in a capital murder trial in Brazos County, in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, has been delayed indefinitely pending a legal dispute over jury instructions.

Tarrant and Dallas Counties each accounted for two new death sentences and Johnson County accounted for one.  Dallas County now leads the state in new death sentences since 2008, accounting for nearly 20% of sentences imposed in the last five years.  Dallas County also led the state in executions, accounting for 5 of the 15 executions carried out this year.

“While most of Texas is moving away from the death penalty, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was a major outlier both in new death sentences and executions this year,” said Kristin Houlé, Executive Director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.  “2012 exemplified the arbitrariness that pervades the death penalty system in Texas.  Not only does it remain geographically isolated to just a few jurisdictions statewide, but it continues to be applied in a haphazard and unfair way, particularly when it comes to individuals with intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness and people of color.”

Seven of the new death row inmates in 2012 are African-American, one is Hispanic, and one is a white female.  Over the last five years, nearly 75% of death sentences in Texas have been imposed on people of color – 46% African-American and 28% Hispanic.  In Dallas County, this pattern is even more pronounced – of the eight men sentenced to death there since 2008, five are African-American and two are Hispanic.

Of the 15 men executed in Texas this year, seven were African-American, four were Hispanic, and four were white.

“Although Texas is using the death penalty less, the state still uses it disproportionately on people of color,” said Kathryn Kase, Executive Director of the Texas Defender Service.  “This is a recurring problem and Texas’ failure to fix it demonstrates how broken its capital punishment system is.”

Troubling questions also persist regarding the arbitrary determination of who receives the ultimate punishment.  Cases involving individuals with comparable backgrounds or who presented similar legal arguments received vastly different treatment by the criminal justice system this year.

As one example of this arbitrariness, several death row inmates with diagnosed severe mental illnesses were scheduled for execution this year.  The executions of Steven Staley and Marcus Druery were halted pending unresolved issues related to their mental competency, while the execution of Jonathan Green, who reportedly suffered from schizophrenia, proceeded on October 10, 2012 after significant legal wrangling.

This disparate treatment was also evident in terms of issues related to intellectual disabilities.

Two inmates with recognized intellectual disabilities received reduced sentences and were removed from death row this year: Roosevelt Smith, convicted in 2007, and Anthony Pierce, who spent more than three decades on death row.  On the other hand, Marvin Wilson was executed on August 7, 2012 despite being diagnosed with an IQ of 61, well below the threshold of 70 for mental impairment.  His case created an international uproar and starkly illustrated the woefully inadequate and unscientific standards used by the State of Texas to determine which defendants with intellectual disabilities are protected from execution.

Other highlights of Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2012: The Year in Review:

• The State of Texas accounted for more than a third of U.S. executions this year, a smaller percentage than in the past but nearly three times as many as any other state.  Texas has executed a total of 492 people since 1982 – 253 executions have occurred during the administration of Texas Governor Rick Perry (2001 – present), more than any other governor in U.S. history.

• Six inmates scheduled for execution in 2012 received reprieves.  In addition, three execution dates were withdrawn.

• Death-qualified juries rejected the death penalty in the sentencing phase in four trials this year and instead opted for life in prison without the possibility of parole.  In all four cases, the jury determined that the defendant did not pose a future danger.  Over the last five years, death-qualified juries have rejected the death penalty in at least 20 capital murder trials.

• According to research by TCADP, the Texas death row population stands at its lowest level since 1989.  As of November 16, 2012, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice counted 289 death row inmates, which includes 10 women.

“Attitudes toward the death penalty are shifting as public confidence in the ultimate punishment continues to erode,” said Houlé.  “As we approach the start of the 83^rd Texas Legislature, TCADP urges concerned citizens and elected officials to confront the realities of this irreversible punishment and reconsider the efficacy and cost of the death penalty as a means of achieving justice.”

TCADP is a statewide, grassroots advocacy organization based in Austin.

Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2012: The Year in Review is available online at www.tcadp.org/TexasDeathPenaltyDevelopments2012.pdf.  Contact report author Kristin Houlé at khoule@tcadp.org to receive a copy directly via email.  See the report for tables illustrating Texas’ highest-use counties from 2008-2012, the race of defendants sentenced to death in the last five years, and additional graphs depicting recent trends.

See http://tcadp.org/2008-2012-new-death-sentences/ for a map of new death sentences by county from 2008 to 2012.

See http://tcadp.org/1976-2012-county-map/ for a map of death sentences by county from 1976 to 2012.

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MEDIA ADVISORY
November 26, 2012

CONTACT: Kristin Houlé, Executive Director
512-441-1808 (office); 512-552-5948 (cell)
khoule@tcadp.org

Death Penalty Dialogue to Feature Dallas Faith Leaders

Austin, Texas – On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, four prominent Dallas-area religious leaders will gather for the first time to participate in a public conversation about the death penalty. The event, entitled “A Faithful Conversation on the Death Penalty with Dallas Faith Leaders”, will take place from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the Grand Lounge at Paul Quinn College.  It is free and open to the public.

Participating in the event are these faith leaders:

• Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church
• Rev. Dr. Wes Magruder, Chair of the Board of Church and Society of the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church
• Rev. Stanley J. Meyer, Bishop Assistant for Leadership and Disciple Life in the Northern Texas – Northern Louisiana Mission Area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Deacon Charles Stump, Director of Pastoral Services for the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Their conversation will focus on the challenges of moving Texas away from a culture of vengeance toward a culture of accountability that does not rely on the death penalty; how faith leaders and people of faith can take a more proactive role in educating their congregations about this issue; and the challenges of addressing the death penalty from the pulpit.

This event is occurring at a critical time, as Dallas County now accounts for more death sentences in the last five years than any other jurisdiction in Texas.  Juries in Dallas County imposed eight new death sentences between 2008 and 2012, including two this year.  This accounts for nearly 20% of all new death sentences in Texas over this five-year period. In comparison, Harris County juries imposed 5 sentences in the same timeframe.  Dallas also accounts for more than 30 exonerations based on DNA evidence.

WHAT: “A Faithful Conversation on the Death Penalty with Dallas Faith Leaders”

WHEN: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 7:00 to 9:00 PM

WHERE:  Grand Lounge, Paul Quinn College; 3837 Simpson Stuart Road; Dallas, Texas 75241

“A Faithful Conversation on the Death Penalty” is free and open to the public.  To RSVP, call (512) 441-1808, email info@tcadp.org, or go to http://tcadp.org/faithful-conversation/.

This event is sponsored by: Catholic Mobilizing Network; Citizens of Mizpah; Dallas Friends Meeting; Dallas Peace Center; Friendship-West Baptist Church; General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church; Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation; North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church Board of Church and Society; Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Mission Area of the E.L.C.A.; Pax Christi Dallas; Texas Catholic Conference; and Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

For information on the death penalty in Texas or background on this event, or to arrange an interview with any of the participating religious leaders, please contact TCADP Executive Director Kristin Houlé at khoule@tcadp.org, 512-441-1808 (office), or 512-552-5948 (cell).  Details on the event are available at http://tcadp.org/faithful-conversation/.

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On October 24, 2012, the State of Texas executed Bobby Hines for the 1991 murder of Michelle Wendy Haupt in Dallas.  According to the Associated Press and reported by Fox News, Hines “was scheduled to die in May and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case, but the Dallas County district attorney’s office again delayed the execution so that new DNA testing could be conducted. When those tests confirmed Hines’ guilt, the punishment was reset for Wednesday.”

Read more about Hines’ case from Fox News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This was the 11th execution to take place in Texas this year, out of 33 nationwide.  Five of those executions involved Dallas County cases.  Four additional executions are scheduled to take place in Texas before the end of 2012, including the October 31 scheduled execution of Donnie Roberts.

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The State of Texas executed Robert Harris on September 20, 2012, for the 2000 murders of former co-workers Rhoda Wheeler and Augustin Villasenor at the Mi-T-Fine Car Wash in Irving (Dallas County) from which he had been fired three days earlier. Three other people were killed in the assault on the car wash.

This was the eighth execution of the year in Texas, out of 29 nationwide; Robert Harris was the fourth inmate convicted in Dallas County to be executed this year.

There currently are eight more executions scheduled to take place in Texas between now and the end of the year.  Cleve Foster is scheduled to be executed on September 25, 2012 for the 2002 murder of Nyaneur “Mary” Pal in Fort Worth. This is Foster’s fourth execution date since January 2011. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his execution three separate times in order to consider questions about the constitutional right to the effective assistance of habeas counsel and related claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and innocence.

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