FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, January 15, 2001 CONTACT: BRENDA BOWSER
(202) 293-6970
** PRESS ADVISORY **
IN RARE MOVE, FULL CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS WILL REVIEW DEATH ROW INMATE’S “SLEEPING LAWYER” CLAIM
Judges to examine panel’s controversial ruling in Burdine’s denial of counsel case
WASHINGTON, DC — The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will review an earlier ruling in the case of Calvin J. Burdine, a Texas death row inmate whose “sleeping lawyer” claim drew national attention during last year’s Presidential campaign. Burdine’s appeal included accounts by jurors and a court clerk that his original counsel, Joe Frank Cannon, frequently slept during his trial. At the upcoming hearing, the full Circuit’s 14 judges will review the October 2-1 split decision that determined a defendant in a capital murder trial does not have an absolute right to an attorney who stays awake during the entire trial. In his vigorous dissent of the decision, Judge Benavides said that sending a man to death row under these circumstances “shocks the conscience.”
The Death Penalty Information Center today announced the following details for attorney media availability during the upcoming hearing in New Orleans:
WHAT: Full Fifth Circuit Court reviews Burdine’s “Sleeping Lawyer” Appeal DATE: Monday, January 22, 2001 TIME: Hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 A.M.
(There will be media availability before and following the hearing.) WHERE: 5th Circuit Courthouse
600 Camp Street
New Orleans, Louisiana AVAILABLE
FOR COMMENT: Robert McGlasson Burdine’s attorney since 1987
phone: 404/688-7530 Stephen Bright Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights
phone: 404/688-1202 Clive Stafford Smith Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center
phone: 504/558-9867 George Kendall
(attendance not confirmed) NAACP Legal Defense Fund
phone: 212/965-2267
For further details about the hearing or additional background information about this case, please contact Robert McGlasson by calling (404) 688-7530. # # #
