Just added: Vote on ABC news to stop his execution:
NEW YORKERS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY
www.nyadp.org
URGENT ACTION! KENNETH FOSTER TO BE EXECUTED ON AUGUST 30th
New York Abolitionists:
Thanks to your letters, phone calls, and spreading the message, Troy Davis, only a hours from execution, was granted an appeal by the Georgia Supreme Court to present evidence that shows he is innocent of the crimes for which he was accused. This was a tremendous achievement on the part of the activist community, and one that tells us the degree of power our mobilization can have.
The power of mobilization is needed again, and in a short time! Kenneth Foster, sent to death row at age 19 for a murder even authorities acknowledge he did not commit, himself the father of an 11-yr-old daughter, Nydesha Foster, is scheduled to die in Texas on August 30th by lethal injection.
Nydesha has spoken about her father, who she has not been able to touch since 1996: "When somebody is a big part of your heart, like my father is - I mean, my father is more than half of my heart. I mean, I love him so much. And if the state of Texas kills him just for driving a car, it's like you're killing my heart. It's like you're killing half of me. It's like if you execute him,
you might as well execute me..."
The only hope now for both Kenneth and Nydesha is a mass appeal to Texas governor Rick Perry. After reading about his outrageous case (see below) Please contact Perry--phone calls and faxes are best!:
512-463-1782 (tel)
512-463-1849 (fax)
Email messages can be sent through the Governor's site:
www.governor.state.tx.us/contact
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ACTIVISM! UNITED, WE CAN MAKE SURE NYDESHA DOES NOT HAVE HER "HEART KILLED."
IN SOLIDARITY AND HOPE,
COLLEEN
COLLEEN.EREN@YAHOO.COM
516 849 2363
NYADP ORGANIZER
ABOUT KENNETH:
Kenneth Foster, Jr. was sentenced to death in May 1997 for driving a car from which Mauriceo Brown got out and shot Michael LaHood, Jr. Kenneth's case is currently at a critical juncture, as the state of Texas has recently given him an execution date of August 30, 2007. Kenneth could be killed simply because of the gross misuse of the Law of Parties, simply because, as the Austin Chronicle has put it, he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time."
- The Law of Parties is a deeply flawed policy that allows prosecutors to seek equal sentences for all those present at the time of a crime, even if they did not commit it. All the state has to do is prove the defendant should have anticipated a crime was going to be committed in order to hold them legally responsible for it. It sets and extremely low burden of proof for even the most serious cases * including death penalty cases. * Brown got out of the car, allegedly attempted to commit a robbery, and then shot LaHood when complications arose while Foster and two others remained in the car nearly 80 feet away with the windows up and the radio on.
- Brown admits to the shooting in self defense, and that no one had any prior knowledge of the crimes he was about to commit.
- One of the other passengers in the car, Julius Steen, turned state's evidence on the other three, but in a letter to Foster, admits that his lawyer pressured him to lie in court so he wouldn't get the death penalty.
- Foster didn't know that Brown had left the car with a gun, and when he heard the shot, he started to drive away. A juror from the original trial later said he would have voted against a conviction if he had known Foster tried to drive away.
- The judge in Foster's case told the jury that they may find Kenneth guilty and impose the death penalty solely on the basis of his association with Brown. The death penalty for someone who was not present at the time of the murder, did not kill, and did not anticipate the killing violates the Eighth Amendment, as established by Edmund v. Florida.
- The three other people in the car Foster was driving have all admitted that Foster is innocent and had no foreknowledge of the crimes.
Related posts:
- Troy Davis Execution Stayed! But NY State Senate votes AGAIN for Death Penalty!
- Personal Appeal to save Troy Davis from Execution
- Action Alert on Jeff Deskovic
- Gary Beeman, exoneree, on NY Senate’s Death Penalty vote: “It boggles my mind”
- John Restivo, Long Islander wrongfully convicted 16 years, speaks out!
- When DNA Is Not Enough 4/21/07 1p
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Art, Death Penalty, Electronic Voting, Job Posting, Long Island Music, Recommended Poetry, social & economic justice, To Study Up On Nonviolence Tagged: | book of the month
[…] Two Weeks to Save Kenneth Foster’s Life! by 8/30/07 […]