Read announcement from the Associated Press
DNA evidence leads Florida Supreme Court to toss death row prisoner John Hildwin's sentence6/26/2014
The Florida Supreme Court is throwing out the conviction of death row prisoner Paul Hildwin after new DNA evidence raised questions about whether he murdered a woman nearly 30 years ago.
Read announcement from the Associated Press Politicians going after Republican votes know from the polls that opposing capital punishment is a career-ending decision. But, a growing group of conservatives say it's time to reject a policy that they describe as an anti-life intrusion by big government. Is this the future of conservative politics?
Writing in the Boston Globe, Leon Neyfakh profiles activists across the country who have come to the conclusion that execution by the state is an affront to the core principles that conservatives claim to espouse. Among them is Marc Hyden, who grew up in a Southern family of Republican voters, and took it for granted that being pro-death penalty was a bedrock belief. Previously a Florida field representative for the NRA, Hyden is now an organizer at Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty:What finally changed Hyden's mind, he says today, was encountering criminology data suggesting that the death penalty does not serve as a meaningful deterrent to would-be criminals. "Deterrence was the last thing I had to cling to," Hyden said. "I figured, even if it's inconsistent with fiscal conservatism, even if it's inconsistent with pro-life policies and limited government, we can save lives by deterring future murderers. And then I saw several studies that showed that's patently false." Hyden's organization also discusses the implications of convictions in the DNA era, and debunks some popular myths about innocence - Read full article at io9 FLORIDA DEATH ROW INMATE SEEKS CLEMENCY - He maintains his innocence. Urgent action needed5/21/2014
The case of Charles Finney, a 60-year-old man on death row in Florida, is now before the clemency authorities. He maintains that he did not commit the murder for which he was sentenced to death. In Florida, an execution date is set if and when clemency is denied.
On the afternoon of 16 January 1991, the body of Sandra Sutherland was found in her home in Tampa, Florida. She was bound and gagged and had been stabbed in the back 13 times. Charles Finney, who lived in the same apartment complex, was arrested on 30 January 1991 after he was found to have pawned the victim's video recorder on 16 January. He was charged with capital murder and brought to trial in September 1992. Charles Finney testified that he did not killSandra Sutherland, but that he knew her as a neighbor and had been in her home several times when he did maintenance work at the complex (2 fingerprints of his were found in her apartment). He testified that he found the video recorder in a bag near the rubbish bins and decided to pawn it. The pawn shop owner confirmed that Charles Finney had also pawned a television (neither stolen nor belonging to Sandra Sutherland) on 15 January 1991, and that on both occasions he had provided his correct local address even though the driving license he used for identification still had a Georgia address on it. A witness testified that the day before the murder, he saw "a white male, a big guy" and Sandra Sutherland "cussing and screaming at each other" outside her apartment. Charles Finney is African American. The witness testified that he told the police about this incident soon after the murder but that they had never followed up with him in trying to establish the man's identify. The police never located the white male in question. 2 further witnesses testified that on the morning of the murder they saw another person, known as "Bill", a white male acquaintance working at the apartment complex, standing in Sandra Sutherland's doorway with the door open. Onetestified that "as soon as [Bill] saw me, he acted like he was going to go back in, and then he came out real quick, locked the door and walked around the corner". The other witness corroborated this. Bill denied being in the apartment that day, however the defense presented a detective who indicated that he gave the police inconsistent accounts of his whereabouts. In closing arguments, the trial prosecutor said that "this is a circumstantial evidence case, no doubt about it" as there was no confession or eyewitness testimony. There is also evidence that the prosecution failed to disclose certain evidence to the defense. Charles Finney was found guilty, and on 18 September 1992, after some 8 hours ofdeliberation, the jurors voted 9 to 3 for the death penalty. Please write immediately in English or your own language: * Calling for Charles Finney to be granted clemency; * Noting that the case against Charles Finney is circumstantial and the jury was divided on the sentence; * Expressing concern that the prosecution failed to disclose certain information to the defense; * Expressing your understanding of the seriousness of the crime and its consequences. URGENT ACTION FLORIDA DEATH ROW INMATE SEEKS CLEMENCY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION In 2000, a landmark study conducted at Columbia Law School in New York concluded that US death sentences are "persistently and systematically fraught with error". The study revealed that appeal courts had found serious errors - those requiring a judicial remedy - in 68 % of cases. It pointed to prosecutorial and police misconduct and inadequate defense representation as the principal causes of error. The study expressed "grave doubt" as to whether the courts catch all such errors. (Read more...) Name: Charles Finney (m) Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution UA: 124/14 Issue Date: 13 May 2014 Country: USA HOW YOU CAN HELP PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 24 JUNE 2014 TO: Governor Rick Scott Office of the Governor, The Capitol 400 S. Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 USA Email: Rick.scott@eog.myflorida.com Salutation: Dear Governor Office of Executive Clemency Florida Parole Commission, 4070 Esplanade Way Tallahassee, FL 32399-2450 USA Email: ClemencyWeb@fpc.state.fl.us Fax: 1 850 414-6031 or 1 850 488-0695 Salutation: Dear Members of the Clemency Board Also send copies to your local representative in Congress. Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after the above date. Please share this urgent action with your networks using this link: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/uaa12414.pdf UA Network Office AIUSA 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 -- F. 202.509.8193 --E. uan@aiusa.org --amnestyusa.org/urgent (source: Amnesty International USA) |
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