PRISON BRUTALITY AND INJUSTICE PAGE
Beverly George Bryan, Founder of APPMI, Inc.
(Advocacy & Protection for People with Mental Illness) began this project
due to the high volume of letters from prisoners and their families regarding
abuse and poor living conditions in Texas prisons. Realizing
these issues were not being addressed in our legislation, she began
working with other organizations and testifying to legislation in Austin.
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These issues all begin in our communities. These issues begin in our courts. Prosecutors are enabled to manipulate and altercate for the purpose of conviction. The judge is held responsible for due process in his court yet allows laws to be abused, false testimony to be given, and even altered documents to be entered as evidence. Speak to your lawyer concerning these violations of law and civil rights and they will advise you to drop it because seldom is a judge or prosecutor held accountable for breaking the law. This means those who give the largest campaign donations are the ones who really make the laws. Without a monitoring system to maintain the law is upheld by all officials at all times, there can be no justice. Justice is in finding the truth. Justice has nothing to do with getting elected. APPMI will continue demanding the need for major prison reform. |
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APPMI is attempting to inform and educate prisoners and their family members regarding what they can do to help themselves and others. We also plan to educate and inform the public on the truth concerning conditions in the Texas Prison System.
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The abuse, brutality and even torture received by prisoners cannot be tolerated. We cannot expect these men and women to tolerate years of abuse and poor treatment only to come out of a system such as we offer and enter the free world acting any different. Nor can we tolerate the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" mentality we are witnessing Our intention is to include letters from prisoners regarding abusive circumstances. The letters are often graphic. Many letters will not reveal the name of the prisoner per the families request. We will attempt to include all the information regarding each case. We must, however, protect the families and the children. |
CLICK ON NAME BELOW TO READ ABOUT A PARTICULAR
CASE OR SEARCH HERE
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Vernon McManus Conviction 1977 Released 1987 After a new trial was ordered, the prosecution dropped the charges when a key prosecution witness refused to testify. Randall Dale Adams Conviction 1977 Released 1989 Adams was convicted of killing a Dallas Police officer and sentenced to death. After the murder David Harris was arrested for the murder when it was learned was bragging about it. Harris, however, claimed that Adams was the killer. Adams trial lawyer was a real estate attorney and the key government witnesses against Adams were Harris and other witnesses who were never subject to cross examination because they disappeared the next day. On appeal, Adams was ordered to be released pending a new trial by the Texas Court of Appeals. The prosecutors did not seek a new trial due to substantial evidence of Adam's innocence. Adams case is the subject of the movie, The Thin Blue Line. Clarence Brandley Conviction 1980 Releases 1990 Brandley was awarded a new trial when evidence showed prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory evidence and perjury by prosecution witnesses. An investigation by the Department of Justice and the FBI uncovered more misconduct, and in 19899 a new trial was granted. Prior tot he new trial, all of the charges against Brandley were dropped. Brandley is the subject of the book White Lies by Nick Davies. John C. Skelton Conviction 1982 Released 1990 Despite several witnesses who testified that he was 800 miles from the scene of the murder, Skelton was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a man by exploding dynamite in his pickup truck. The evidence against him was purely circumstantial and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found that it was insufficient to support a guilty verdict. The court the reversed the conviction and entered a directed verdict of acquittal. Federico M. Macias Conviction 1984 Released 1993 Macias was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a burglary. Macias was implicated by a co-worker, who in exchange for his testimony was not prosecuted for the murders, and from jailhouse informants. Post-conviction investigation by pro bono attorneys discovered substantial evidence of inadequate counsel. A federal district court ordered a new hearing finding that "[t]he errors that occurred in this case are inherent in a system which pays attorneys such a meager amount." Macias's conviction was overturned and a grand jury refused to reindict because of lack of evidence. (Marinez-Macias v. Collins, 810 F Supp. 782, 790 (W.D. Tex. 1991) Muneer Deeb Conviction 1985 Released 1993 Deeb was originally sentenced to death for allegedly contracting with three hitmen to kill his ex-girlfriend. The hitmen were also convicted and one was sentenced to death. Deeb consistently claimed no involvement in the crime. Deeb's conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1991 because improper evidence had been admitted at his first trial. With an experienced defense attorney, Deeb was retried and acquitted in 1993. Ricardo Aldape Guerra Conviction 1982 Released 1997 Guerra was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer in Houston. Federal District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ruled on Nov. 15, 1994 that Guerra should either be retried in 30 days or released, stating that the actions of the police and prosecutors in this case were "outrageous," "intentional" and "done in bad faith." He further said that their misconduct "was designed and calculated to obtain . . . another 'notch in their guns.'" Judge Hoyt's ruling was unanimously upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals. A new trial was granted to Guerra, but Houston District Attorney Johnny Holmes dropped charges on April 16, 1997 instead. Guerra returned to his native Mexico. Andrew Mitchell Conviction 1981 Released 1993; returned to prison and then re-released 1999 Mitchell was awarded $40,000 from Smith County, Texas for withholding evidence at his trial which led to his death sentence in 1981. He spent 13 years on death row before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his conviction. Mitchell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was given a 31 year sentence. (Dallas Morning News, 1/ 19/99) He was then released to a halfway house in early 1999 after being given credit for time served. Kerry Max Cook Conviction 1978 Released Nov. 1997 Concluded 1999 Cook was originally convicted of killing Linda Jo Edwards in 1978. In 1988, he came within 11 days of execution, when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Texas Court to review its decision. Cook's conviction was overturned in 1991. He was re-tried in 1992, but the trial ended in a hung jury. In 1993, a state district judge ruled that prosecutors had engaged in systematic misconduct, surpressing key evidence. In 1994, Cook was tried again, and this time found guilty and again sentenced to death. On Nov. 6, 1996, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed his conviction, saying that "prosecutorial and police misconduct has tainted this entire matter from the outset." The court ruled that key testimony from the 1994 trial could not be used in any further prosecution. Prior to the start of his fourth trial in February, 1999, Cook pleaded no contest to a reduced murder charge and was released. He continued to maintain his complete innocence, but accepted the deal to avoid the possibility of another wrongful conviction. Recent DNA tests from the victim matched that of an ex-boyfriend, and not that of Cook. This tended to contradict testimony from the ex-boyfriend. Henry Lee Lucas Conviction 1984 Commuted to Life 1998 Lucas originally confessed to the murder of an unnamed hitchhiker in Texas in 1979. He also confessed to hundreds of other murders including the murder of Jimmy Hoffa and his fourth grade teacher, who is still alive. Most of his confessions have proved false. Two investigations by successive Attorneys General in Texas have concluded that he almost certainly did not commit the murder for which he faced an execution date of June 30, 1998. Gov. George Bush commuted his sentence to life upon recommendation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles in June, 1998. MUNEER DEEB Deeb was originally sentenced to death for allegedly contracting with three hitmen to kill his ex-girlfriend. The hitmen were also convicted and one was sentenced to death. Deeb consistently claimed no involvement in the crime. Deeb's conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1991 because improper evidence had been admitted at his first trial. With an experienced defense attorney, Deeb was retried and acquitted in 1993. |
Ex-inmates: Innocent are executed in Texas
By R.G. RATCLIFFE, Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau Staff TUE 03/20/01
AUSTIN - Two former Texas death-row inmates, with trembling hands and emotionally choked voices, told a House committee Monday the state has executed innocent people.
Randall Dale Adams and Kerry Max Cook urged the
House State Affairs Committee to approve a two-year moratorium on executions
in Texas to allow for a thorough study of the state's criminal-justice
system. "I understand victims," Adams said. "I understand the hurt and
the pain and the hits that they've taken, but we are killing innocent people."
Adams and Cook were among 24 witnesses scheduled to appear before the committee
in favor of a bill by state Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, that would establish
an execution moratorium while a special commission studied the death penalty
for ways to make certain the innocent are not executed. "Our system is
broken. We shouldn't execute people while we study the problem," Dutton
said. Adams spent more than a dozen years in prison after being wrongly
convicted for the murder of a Dallas police officer. He said he was given
a one-month desk calendar to count down the days to his execution - a fate
he was separated from by a mere 12 hours. "We have to stop this madness.
Give it six months. Give it a year. Just cease this railroad train we've
got rolling down the tracks," Adams said. "The death penalty in Texas has
grown out of control."
Cook, who lived on death row for 22 years before
his release from prison, said he watched innocent inmates such as Adams
and Clarence Brandley walk out of prison. Proclaiming his own innocence,
Cook often wondered at that time whether he would obtain his freedom.
"I wondered if that would ever happen to me. Sure, it would. We don't execute the innocent in Texas," Cook said, his voice dropping to a somber tone. "But we do." The Texas death penalty got national attention last year because of then-Gov. George W. Bush's successful run for president. Bush maintained no innocent person had been executed in the state. The issue was highlighted when Gov. James Ryan of Illinois put a moratorium on executions in his state because of a fear that innocent men were being put to death. Crime-victims advocate William Rusty Hubbarth of Justice for All argued against Dutton's moratorium proposal. "You would be denying closure and solace to the victims. You would be denying the belief in due process. And you would be denying the application of a mandated justice," Hubbarth said. Under questioning from committee members, Hubbarth said an innocent person who was executed could be considered a crime victim. But he said the legal process prevents that from happening. "I defy anyone in this room to give me the name and TDC number of an executed innocent person in the state of Texas," Hubbarth said. "I can give you some," Cook said, standing up in the audience. "Give us one. Give us the name," Hubbarth fired back. Cook said James Lee Beathard ended up on death row because of the testimony of his "fall partner." But he said Beathard and his co-defendant, Gene Hathorn Jr., convinced him Beathard was not guilty of the crime. "Mr. Beathard, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, was innocent," Cook said. Beathard was executed in December 1999. Beathard had been convicted on Hathorn's testimony that he participated in the murder of Hathorn's family. Beathard admitted being at the trailer the night of the murder but said he was outside when the killings happened and thought it was a drug deal gone bad. Hathorn later recanted his testimony and said Beathard was innocent. In Cook's case, he was tried three times for the 1977 killing of a Tyler woman and sentenced to death twice. After he won a new trial in 1999, he pleaded no contest to be released from prison for time served. Several months later, DNA evidence proved that semen found on the dead woman belonged to her married lover, not Cook. Adams did not give the committee any names of innocent people who had been executed. But he provided a list of 95 inmates nationally who have been released from death row since 1971 after being exonerated of their crimes. Seven, including Adams, were from Texas.
"There are people on death row I don't want to see walking the streets with my family. Hell, I used to live next to them," Adams said. "But I've also lived next door to people I thought were innocent who are no longer there. They're in the (Capt.) Joe Byrd Cemetery without a name." The House committee also heard from Jeanette Popp, the mother of a 20-year-old woman killed at an Austin Pizza Hut in 1988. Police used the threat of the death penalty to get Christopher Ochoa to confess to the crime even though he was innocent. Ochoa was freed through DNA evidence in January. Popp said Achim Joseph Marino, a Texas inmate who confessed to the crime in 1996, may now face execution in her daughter's death. Popp said she opposes the death penalty. "I beg you, please, in the loving memory of my daughter, stop the killing," she said.
