[News] STOP THE EXECUTION !

Mon Sep 12 08:58:47 EDT 2005

EMERGENCY: 4 DAYS LEFT  TO
STOP THE TEXAS EXECUTION OF
FRANCES NEWTON
ON SEPTEMBER 14!

JOIN WITH FORMER ATTY. GEN. RAMSEY CLARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BAR
ASSN. AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SEND A FINAL APPEAL TO DEMAND THE EXECUTION BE STOPPED!

FRANCES IS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN
SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED BY TEXAS IN MODERN HISTORY.

NEW EVIDENCE AFFIRMS HER INNOCENCE.

Go to
http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml
for an updated urgent letter to be sent in your name. you  will be able to
review and modify the text to put in your own final appeal for Frances, even
if you have already sent the original letter. (The updated appeal letter text
appears HERE lower down in this message).

4 days remain before the scheduled execution of Frances Newton, an innocent
African American woman, by the state of Texas. Thousands of people have taken
up the appeal, sending over 200,000 email messages and thousands of letters
and postcards and faxes and phone calls to Texas Governor Rick Perry,
President Bush, legislators and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles urging
the execution be stopped. WE MUST INTENSIFY THE PRESSURE!

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has written to the President, the
Governor and the Pardon Board. Here is what he wrote:

"Every element of law, morality, human dignity and reverence for life compel
commutation of the death sentence of Frances Newton scheduled to be executed
in Texas on September 14, 2005.

Evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed, would have
caused an acquittal. Her trial attorney was not competent and can no longer
appear in death cases, but too late for her. A person of financial means would
never have been convicted and probably never even tried in such a case.

At 22, Frances Newton lost her husband and two children and, most cruelly, has
been condemned as their murderer. Her mother and father-in-law, the parents of
her dead husband and grandparents of her dead children, could have testified
in her behalf at her trial, but no one called them. They pray everyday that
her life be spared.

Frances Newton, a poor African-American woman unable to defend herself, who
lost her family to violent death, has now spent seventeen years in prison on a
conviction unsupportable in law and fact.
Surely if there was ever time, now in the wake of Katrina with its devastating
exposure of the fate of poor Americans caught in calamity, American officials
can find the understanding, courage and compassion to commute this damnable
death sentence. I ask you to use all your authority and persuasion to see that
happens.

Sincerely,
Ramsey Clark"

And Michael Greco, President of the American Bar Association, wrote in part:

"..significant and and compelling new evidence .. has not yet been evaluated
by the Texas courts. .. This evidence was not discovered earlier because of
the negligence of her appointed lawyer.. He did no investigation whatsoever,
and therefore, did not place before the jury the evidence that now casts doubt
on Ms. Newton's involvement in this crime. .. We believe that carrying out the
execution of Frances Newton without a full review of this new evidence is
inconsistent with principles of fundamental fairness and due process. Because
reasonable doubt exists, we urge you to vacate her execution date so that the
newly discovered evidence can be tested and properly evaluated by Texas 
courts."

Please join the online campaign to STOP THE EXECUTION OF FRANCES NEWTON!
YOUR EMERGENCY FINAL URGENT APPEAL IS NEEDED NOW!

Send emails to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott,
President Bush, Congressional leaders and Senators and Representatives from
Texas and the Texas State Legislature, the Mayor of Houston and Houston City
Councilors, The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, U.N. Secy General Kofi
Anan and your senators and representative, DEMANDING that Frances' execution
be stopped IMMEDIATELY!

If you have already sent an email, do it again! The letter (see below) has
been updated to refer to the two letters just mentioned, and you can modify it
to put in your personal appeal with all the urgency required by the execution
date this Wednesday.

Go to
http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml
for the following letter to be sent in your name:

Sample Text (you will be able to edit it on the website):
........................................................
Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott, President Bush, Senators and
Representatives, Houston Mayor White, Houston City Councilors, and Texas Board
of Pardons and Paroles:

IN A MATTER OF DAYS, on September 14, 2005, Frances Newton, AN INNOCENT WOMAN,
is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas. If the jury had known the
facts that are presently known, they would not have found Frances guilty nor
given her the death sentence. The dubious motive, unrealistic timeline, the
police's refusal to follow important leads, and most of all, her incompetent
counsel, all point to the compelling evidence that proves Frances Newton is
innocent.

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has written to President Bush and Goveror
Perry that "evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed,
would have caused an acquittal." And Michael Greco, President of the American
Bar Association, also wrote to the President, Governor and Pardons Board that
because "significant and compelling new evidence has not yet been evaluated by
Texas courts, we urge you to vacate her execution date."  She has been on
death row for 18 years, and you have already granted her a 120-day stay. But
on the basis of new evidence, Frances needs to finally have her day in court.
We plead to you in good conscience to ACT IMMEDIATELY TO STOP THE EXECUTION OF
FRANCES NEWTON.

Sincerely,

-------

For more information and to order DVD's of Frances, go to
http://www.freefrances.org

-------

STOP THE EXECUTION OF FRANCES NEWTON CAMPAIGN
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
1-212-633-6646
email: francesnewtoncampaign at iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org

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