From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 10 Sep 92 15:44 PDT
Subject: execution alert 9/92
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700440:000:7543
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Sep 10 15:44:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: execution alert 9/92

/* Written  5:33 am  Sep 10, 1992 by abolition in cdp:execution.aler */
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ALERT 92-7                                              August 31, 1992
       **EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT**EXECUTION ALERT**

FLORIDA       EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY BOARD HEARING--GRASSROOTS SUPPORT
NEEDED  SEPTEMBER 8, 1992
     
On September 8, 1992, Governor Lawton Chiles and the Florida
cabinet, meeting as the Executive clemency board, will hear
arguments concerning the granting of clemency to Daniel Lee
Doyle, (White), a 32-year-old mentally retarded death row inmate. 
Doyle has been on death row since   .  He was convicted of the
rape/murder of a white female.
     Danny has a lifelong, documented history of mental
retardation and was in special education all through his school
years.  His overall IQ at the age of 16 was 65, with a 52 verbal
IQ.  Danny cannot read or write at all and has substantial,
demonstrated functional limitations.  Danny was tested and
evaluated in December 1991 by Ruth Luckasson, Professor of
Special Education, University of New Mexico, and a nationally
recognized expert in the field of mental retardation.  Dr.
Luckasson's opinion is unequivocal: "There can be no doubt that
he has mental retardation...of a much lower level than
borderline."
     The person to whom Danny was closest was his older brother,
Jimmy.  Jimmy and Danny had many of the same mental limitations,
though those who knew the boys agree that Jimmy was never as
severely handicapped as Danny.  The boys shared a room throughout
their lives, and Danny looked to Jimmy for leadership and
guidance in a bewildering world.  Approximately one year before
the crime for which Danny was condemned to death, Jimmy
accidentally shot himself while the boys were hunting with
friends.  Jimmy died in Danny's arms during the frantic race to
the hospital.  Despite Danny's serious mental disability, he had
no history of any criminal activity until after this tragedy.  It
is clear that this accident and the loss of the one stable force
in his life dramatically deteriorated Danny's already marginal
adaptive functioning.
     The Association for Retarded Citizens of Florida has taken a
strong stance against executions of persons with mental
retardation because this severe disability necessarily reduces
moral blameworthiness and has communicated this stance to
Governor Chiles.
     We ask your help in conveying the message to Governor Chiles
that executing the mentally retarded violates our society's
standards of decency and serves no valid purpose.  Please write
or call the Governor to express your opinion.
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:            Gov. Lawton Chiles
                            State Capitol
                            Tallahassee  FL  32301
                            (904) 488-4441, 488-2272, & 488-3494    
                            FAX (904) 488-9578

VIRGINIA               SEPTEMBER 15, 1992        ELECTROCUTION
WILLIE LEROY JONES, (Black), age 33, has been on death row since
January 1984.  He was convicted of the robbery/murder of a an
elderly white couple.  Jones was offered a plea that would haven
given him 2 consecutive life sentences with the possibility of
parole, but refused it because his trial attorney wouldn't
recommend the offer.  
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:            Gov. Doug Wilder
                            State Capitol               (804) 786-2211
                            Richmond  VA  23219   FAX (804) 786-3985


NORTH CAROLINA      OCTOBER 23, 1992       LETHAL INJECTION OR
GAS CHAMBER 
JOHN STERLING GARDNER, JR., (White), age 34, has been on death
row since September 1983.  He was convicted of the robbery/murder
of a white male and female.  As a child, John Gardner was a
victim of neglect, as well as emotional and physical abuse.  At
trial, he was represented by an attorney who was seriously
addicted to alcohol and cocaine.
     Gardner's trial counsel is no longer a member of the bar,
having received a three-year suspension from the practice of law
for various acts of misconduct and negligence in connection with
his representation of his clients.  The trial counsel did next to
nothing to prepare for this trial.  As a consequence the jury
never heard critical evidence about the crime and about Gardner's
background. 
     Sadly, the jury never heard that John Gardner was born to
alcoholic parents, and that his mother abandoned him early in
life.  The jury never knew that as a child, he was tied to a
chair for long periods of time, resulting in his legs nearly
atrophying, that he was once shot at by his father with a 30-30
rifle because he brought home a bad report card, that he was
routinely and brutally beaten and terrorized by his father, that
he was emotionally disturbed and in need of treatment, and that
he was repeatedly removed from his father's care and placed in
foster homes, but inexplicably returned to experience this
treatment over and over again.
TAKE ACTION, CONTACT:       Governor Jim Martin
                      State Capitol
                      Capitol Square
                 Raleigh  NC  27601-2905
                      (919) 733-9490   FAX (919) 733-2120 



ILLINOIS     **CONSENSUAL**    NOVEMBER 11, 1992      LETHAL
INJECTION
LLOYD WAYNE HAMPTON, (White), age 38, has been on death row since
July 1990.  He was convicted of the robbery/murder of an elderly
white male. Hampton pled guilty and waived his right to a jury
trial and was sentenced by the judge. Hampton's direct appeal was
affirmed in May 1992.  Hampton promptly wrote the court stating,
"Further appeals would be frivolous and meritless, and a severe
waste of the time and efforts of an already extremely
overburdened court system."  He went on to ask that further
appeals be barred, "whether they may be filed by attorneys,
family, friends, clergy, prisoners or any other persons or groups
against capital punishment."


TEXAS UPDATE--In an effort to at least inform the Execution Alert
Network of Texas execution dates,  a list of those on the Texas
Department of Corrections execution list follows.  At this point
the seriousness of the following execution dates is unknown, but
are listed for informational purposes only.
9/17/92    David Long                  9/24/92    Ricardo Guerra
9/17/92    Irineo Montoya              10/08/92   Bernard Amos
9/18/92    Cornelius Goss              12/23/92   Joseph Faulder
9/18/92    Karl Hammond                10/30/92   Delma Banks Jr.
9/21/92    Warren Bridge               11/19/92   Jeffery Griffin
9/22/92    James Demouchette           1/8/93     William Kitchens
9/22/92    Andre Lewis

=================================================================
IN MEMORIUM
     Edward Dean Kennedy, Florida, was executed July 21, 1992.
     Edward Fitzgerald, Virginia, was executed July 23, 1992.
     William Andrews, Utah, was executed July 30, 1992.
     Curtis Lee Johnson, Texas, was executed August 11, 1992.
=================================================================

There have been 180 executions in the United States since the
reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.