Coverage of Texas Governor Rick Perry's firing of Forensic Commission Members in Cameron Todd Willlingham case

From MSNBC, two segments on the dismissal of a state forensic commission just before they were to launch their investigation of the Cameron Todd Willingham execution, a Texas man convicted of an arson based on disputed forensic evidence.

Rachel Maddow Show: October 13, 2009

Hardball: October 14, 2009

 Billy Moore speaks at the Kentucky Death Penalty Institute on March 18, 2009. For more information about Billy Moore or to purchase his book go to http://www.ishallnotdie.com/

William Neal Moore was on Georgia’s death row for 16 years and was twenty hours away from the electric chair on Aug. 21, 1990, when the parole board commuted his sentence to life.  Moore was sentenced to die without ever going on trial, a fact cited by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles at the time as a major factor in commuting Moore’s sentence.  Relatives of the victim, Mother Teresa, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson had pleaded for Moore, saying his life was salvageable and that he was contrite for killing a homeowner during a break-in. A year later, he was paroled.  Today, Moore is a preacher. He has spoken at Harvard and Yale on the tribulations of the death penalty.  “I tell them no one is beyond redemption, even people on death row,” Moore said. “The death penalty is the state carrying out revenge, nothing more, nothing less.” Mr. Moore now lives in Rome, Georgia with his wife, Pastor Donna Moore.  After being ordained as a minister, he formed Jesus Christ Prison Ministry. He now speaks in churches, universities, youth detention centers, and prisons.

(March 18, 2009)

A video on Jose Garcia Briseno, currently on death row in Texas, awaiting execution on April 7, 2009. Since his incarceration, he has had a profound effect on the lives of many around him and those with whom he has corresponded. This was prepared by Briseno's attorney, Richard Burr.

For more information about this case, go to http://tcadp.org.

UPDATE: On April 2, 2009 Jose Briseno received a stay of execution.

Year: 2009

"Lethal Solution" - This World, BBC-TV excerpt
Produced by Steven Grandison; March 18, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/7280104.stm

Journalist Vivian White interviews participants in the lethal injection process in the United States. In this brief excerpt, White speaks with Neal Dupree, the attorney for Angel Diaz, whose execution had to be stopped and administered a second time. The execution took a total of 37 minutes.

(This World, BBC-TV, March 18, 2008)

70 x 7: The Forgiveness Equation

 "70 x 7: The Forgiveness Equation" is a documentary that addresses the difficult choices for victims' family members in potential death penalty cases. In one thread, two sisters take opposite sides of the debate after the murder of their parents - one who rallies for the execution, the other who is compelled to not seek the death penalty.

In the other, a father whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombings decides that Timothy McVeigh's execution only perpetuates the same factors that led to the attack. At first filled with rage, he eventually makes the decision to oppose the execution - and meets with the family of McVeigh to talk with them. In the short excerpt here, Bud Welch discusses how he came to those conclusions.

More information on the film, including screening information and how to obtain copies, can be found here: http://www.justiceproductions.org/. See also Victims.

Year: 2008

Georgia Execution Involves Racially Biased and Unprepared Defense Lawyer
On June 4, 2008, Georgia executed Curtis Osborne. Osborne's defense lawyer at trial was racially biased against him and failed to do the most basic investigation that might have saved his client's life. The attorney repeatedly referred to Osborne with a racial epithet, saying, "that little n____r deserves the chair." At the time of the murder that sent Osborne to death row, he was suffering from mental problems and his family had a history of mental illness going back for 3 generations. However, Osborne's attorney failed to raise this issue. His story is recounted in a video prepared by his defense attorneys.

Year: 2008

60 Minutes: "Insanity on Death Row"

Reporter Lara Logan talks with Tennessee death row inmate Gregory Thompson, who awaits execution for the 1985 slaying of Brenda Lane. Thompson has been diagnosed by multiple doctors as being schizophrenic and suffering from delusions. Link

(60 Minutes, CBS-TV, November 11, 2007)

Norfolk Four - Four men, Danial Williams, Joseph Dick, Derek Tice, and Eric Wilson, all veterans of the U.S. Navy, were convicted of a crime they did not commit. Eric has been released from prison, but Danial, Joe, and Derek remain in Virginia prisons serving double-life sentences for a rape and murder committed by another man, Omar Ballard. An objective, comprehensive review of this case by the nation’s leading experts in the fields of forensic pathology, forensic DNA analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and false confessions leaves no doubt that Danial, Joe, Derek, and Eric were wrongly accused, falsely confessed, and are all innocent. Read more information about the case.

UPDATE: On August 6, 2009, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine granted conditional pardons to the Norfolk Four. Read More.

Year: 2006

ABC's "World News Tonight" (June 24, 2006) Investigates the Innocence and Execution of Carlos DeLuna
In 1989, defendant Carlos DeLuna was executed in Texas for the fatal stabbing of Texas convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez. The three-part Chicago Tribune series by reporters Maurice Possley and Steve Mills can be found here (June 24-26, 2006).

(World News Tonight, ABC-TV, June 24, 2006)

BookTV's "After Words"

This excerpt from BookTV's After Words (aired: January 16, 2005) shows Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, discussing the case of Dobie Gillis Williams. Williams' case is one of two Prejean highlights in her new book The Death of Innocents, published in 2005 by Random House.

The American Bar Association has prepared a video on their resolution calling for a moratorium on executions.

Year: 2003

SLEEPING LAWYER
(The Alliance for Justice)
George McFarland (still on death row in Texas) had a lawyer who slept through parts of his trial.

Year: 2003

The Empty Chair: Death Penalty Yes or No

A documentary film produced and directed by Jacqui Lofaro and Victor Teich that tells the stories of four families confronting the loss of loved ones and voicing different perspectives on the death penalty. The movie also features Sister Helen Prejean, an author and spiritual advisory to those condemned to die, and Donald Cabana (pictured), a former death row warden in Mississippi.

Year of release: 2003

TIME OUT: PERSPECTIVES ON NEW JERSEY'S DEATH PENALTY
This video highlights the need for death penalty reform and a moratorium on executions in New Jersey. The video, narrated by Susan Sarandon, features national death penalty experts discussing issues such as cost, the execution of those with mental illness, and the exoneration of innocent inmates.

Year: 2003

SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY
This Massachusetts Senator speaks on DPIC and the Death Penalty.

(July 16, 2002)

EARL WASHINGTON, MENTALLY RETARDED, CONFESSED TO A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT
(CNBC-TV)
In 1983, police convinced Earl Washington to make a statement concerning the rape and murder of a woman in Culpeper, VA, in 1982. The statements were used against him and in 1984 he was convicted and sentenced to death. Sixteen years later, DNA tests confirmed that Washington was innocent and he received an absolute pardon.

(CNBC, June 14, 1999)

MARIO MARQUEZ, IQ of 65, EXECUTED IN TEXAS IN 1995
(ABC-TV)
Mario Marquez had the adaptive skills of a 7 year-old. His trial counsel testified at a clemency hearing that he did not present any evidence of Mario's mental retardation because of a legal flaw in the Texas death penalty statute. Marquez was executed on January 17, 1995.

(Nightline, ABC-TV, January 16, 1995)

NEW JERSEY AND THE ROAD TO ABOLITION

This video, produced by Equal Justice USA, describes the work that went into the succesful campaign to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey in 2007. For more videos from Equal Justice USA, visit their YouTube page by clicking here.

All Things Considered - National Public Radio - September 16, 2009

An interview with Stephen Majors, an Associated Press reporter who was present for the botched execution of Ohio death row inmate Romell Broom. After two hours of searching, the execution team was unable to find a suitable vein to apply the injection method, and the execution had to be rescheduled. For more information, click here. For a timeline of the Broom execution, click here.

The interview can be found on the NPR website by clicking here.

DPIC Podcast - Episode One: Arbitrariness

The first DPIC Podcast, this covering the issue of arbitrariness in the death penalty. To subscribe, click here. You can also download the episode by clicking here. 

(April 17, 2009)

DPIC Podcast - Episode Two: Clemency

Covering the issue of clemency in the death penalty.

(May 13, 2009)

DPIC Podcast - Episode Three: Cost

Covering the issue of cost in the death penalty.

(June 22, 2009)

DPIC Podcast - Episode Four: Deterrence

Covering the issue of deterrence in the death penalty.

(July 9, 2009)

DPIC Podcast - Episode Five: Innocence

Covering the issue of innocence in the death penalty.

(August 31, 2009)

Scott Drake of Speaking of Justice talks with DPIC director Richard Dieter about the 2008 year end report, which found a decline in the application of the death penalty.

("Speaking of Justice," Legal Broadcast Network, January 2009)

March 9, 2007 - 17th Annual DePaul Law Review Symposium:
Protecting the Constitutional rights of someone facing the death penalty is a complex and compelling challenge, especially when that person is a member of a class that is often underrepresented and misunderstood within the legal system. To ensure that the rights of all members of all classes are protected, DePaul's Center for Justice in Capital Cases has committed itself to reforming the administration of the Death Penalty System one life at a time. (free on iTunes)

Congress OKs Fast-Tracked Executions from NPR

New Jersey Panel: Abolish State's Death Penalty

The Faces of Wrongful Conviction Conference, hosted by the ACLU of California affiliates and the UCLA School of Law from April 7-9, 2006, facilitated the first-ever gathering of California's wrongfully-convicted and exonerated individuals. These are their stories. (August 9, 2006)