Texas--Napoleon Beazley--May 28--Execution Date

[nighthawk_75253]

NAPOLEON BEAZLEY

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JUVENILE OFFENDER NAPOLEON BEAZLEY FACING EXECUTION IN TEXAS ON MAY 28, 2002.

Napoleon Beazley, a black male aged 24, is scheduled to be executed on May 30 for the 1994 death of John Luttig, a prominent Texas businessman. Only 17 at the time of his offense, Beazley is one of 29 Texas inmates presently on death row for crimes committed as juveniles.

In order to be eligible for the death penalty in Texas, the jury must deem the defendant a continuing threat to society. In Beazley's trial, the jury's finding of future dangerousness was based solely on the testimony of Beazley's co-defendants in the crime, Cedric and Donald Coleman, who provided the only trial evidence describing the offense and Beazley's state of mind in relation to the offense. Their statements were in stark contrast to the personal accounts given by more than 15 people testifying on Beazley's behalf. Napoleon's teacher described him as a student who was "popular, well-respected, liked, and friendly." A talented athlete, Napoleon was both the senior class president and an academic tutor. He had no prior arrest record and no history of discipline problems at school. Cindy Garner, the district attorney from Beazley's hometown, also testified to Beazley's law-abiding, peaceful reputation.

Since testifying in court, Cedric and Donald Coleman have signed sword statements that they suppressed a deal reached with the Smith County DA's office, an agreement in which the state implicitly agreed not to pursue the death penalty in their cases in return for their testimonies against Beazley. The prosecution portrayed Beazley as a "lurking animal" to the all-white jury. In a post-conviction investigation, a juror referred to Beazley as the "nigger who got what he deserved." Another juror was a long-time employee of the victim's business partner, a significant fact the individual failed to disclose. Until recently, Beazley's attorneys have never adequately addressed these issues. The state-appointed habeas attorney failed to raise any claim regarding the blatantly racist juror. Beazley's attorney in his first appeal was jailed for contempt of court for failing to produce a brief.

Support in Texas for juvenile executions is not strong. A recent poll in the Houston Chronicle indicated that only a third of respondents supported the death penalty for juvenile offenders. In Beazley's trial, the state of Texas craftily painted the picture of a habitually violent young man, a far cry from the teenager considered a leader among his peers.

Texas Governor Rick Perry can only commute Beazley's sentence if the state's Board of Pardon and Paroles recommends it. The Board has demonstrated that they will only make such a recommendation if the majority of trial officials of the court of conviction request it.
Judge Kent, the trial judge at Beazley's trial, wrote a letter to Gov. Perry last August to ask him to spare Beazley's life. Beazley's last stay was granted so that the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals could take a closer look at his sentence. Since the stay was lifted, however, the Board again needs to be persuaded that executing juvenile offenders is an affront to human rights around the world. Write to the state of Texas to protest the possible execution of
Texas' second juvenile offender in less than half a year.

(This alert is updated from August 2001)

Please Contact

Governor Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
PO Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2418
phone: (512) 463 1782
fax: (512) 463 1849
e-mail
Board of Pardons and Paroles
Attn: Gerald Garret
Executive Clemency Section
PO Box 13401, Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
phone: (512) 406 5852
fax: (512) 467 0945
web:www.tdcj.state.tx.us/bpp/index.html

Write Op-Ed

The Austin American-Statesman
P.O. Box 670
Austin, TX 78767
phone: (512) 445-3667
fax: (512) 445-3679
e-mail: letters@statesman.com
web: www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today

Dallas Morning News
2726 S. Beckley
Dallas, TX 75224
phone: (214) 977-8462
fax: (214) 977-8019
e-mail: www.dmnweb.dallasnews.com/letters
web: www.dallasnews.com

Houston Chronicle
P.O. Box 4260
Houston, TX 77210
phone: (713) 220-7491
fax: (713) 220-6806
e-mail: hci@chron.com
web: www.houstonchronicle.com

Judge sets May execution date for Napoleon Beazley

An East Texas judge on Friday set a May 28 execution date for Napoleon Beazley, a convicted killer who last year received a stay just hours before he was to be executed by lethal injection.

State District Judge Cynthia Kent, who presided over Beazley's trial and last year wrote Gov. Rick Perry in favor of commuting the convicted killer's sentence, set the date in the case that has received international scrutiny.

After the ruling, Beazley, who was 17 when he killed a prominent Tyler businessman, turned and apologized to a packed courtroom as his family members wept.

Beazley, now 25, was a high school class president and star athlete at the time of the 1994 murder of John Luttig, 63. The victim's son, J. Michael Luttig, is a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

Defense attorneys argued that it was against international law to set an execution date for Beazley because he was 17 at the time of the killing.

Defense attorney David Botsford had requested a Sept. 17 execution date, which would give him enough time to file another appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Mr. Beazley is not going anywhere," Botsford said. "He's going to be down in Livingston, where he has been all along."

Beazley and brothers Cedric and Donald Coleman, all from Grapeland, about 120 miles southeast of Dallas, were arrested 7 weeks after the shooting based on an anonymous tip.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which issued Beazley's stay in August, lifted it last week.

On Thursday, the Texas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked that Beazley's sentence to be commuted to life in prison since he was 17 when he committed the crime.

Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, said race may have played a factor with an all-white jury deciding the fate of Beazley, who is black. Luttig was white.

A group of 18 Democratic legislators and Houston County District Attorney Cindy Garner, who calls herself a strong advocate of the death penalty, also have written Perry urging commutation.

Under Texas law, Perry can grant a 30-day reprieve from execution but can't order a commutation without the recommendation of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board voted 10-6 last year against commuting the sentence.

Beazley's attorneys filed a motion asking Kent to postpone the rescheduling hearing until after the 2003 legislative session, giving supporters time to lobby for changes in state law.

Napoleon Beazley -- who had no prior criminal history and who was just 17 years old at the time of his offense -- is now scheduled for execution on August 15, 2001 in Texas. He was sentenced to death for the April 19, 1994 murder of Mr. John Luttig in Tyler, Texas. Because he was a juvenile at the time of his crime, Napoleon's execution would be contrary to American standards of justice, fairness, and decency as well as international law. This is a call for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison. In appealing for clemency on behalf of Napoleon Beazley, we do not, in any way, seek either to excuse the crime or to minimize the pain and suffering it caused the family and friends of Mr. John Luttig.

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I. NAPOLEON HAS EXPRESSED HIS REMORSE AND REGRET FOR KILLING MR. JOHN LUTTIG.

Shortly after committing this crime, 17 year old Napoleon told friends that "he had made a big mistake" and that being involved in killing Mr. Luttig was the "stupidest thing he had ever done." He was reportedly even suicidal in the days following the murder. He recently stated, "[i]t was an impulsive act, one I regretted instantly." He says that he is overwhelmed by what he did and "thinks about it every day." He continues to struggle to reconcile his crime with whom he has since become and has stated that "there is no justification for what happened... I don't blame anybody else for being here (on death row) but me." In the seven years he has been in prison, he has continued to read and write, to mature emotionally, and to make his life as productive and meaningful as possible. For example, when at the Ellis One Unit near Huntsville, Texas, Napoleon was trusted by prison officials to move outside of his cell and to do various jobs within the death row facility.

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II. NAPOLEON DID NOT HAVE ANY PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORD AND WAS WELL LIKED AND RESPECTED BY HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS, SCHOOL, CHURCH AND COMMUNITY.

Prior to this crime, Napoleon had never been arrested or involved in any juvenile or criminal proceedings. Moreover, he was elected president of his senior class in high school, was runner up for his hometown's "Mr. Grapeland" and was also runner up for his high school's title of "most athletic" (excelling in baseball, track and football). He attended church regularly and was considered kind and helpful by members of his church. In his community, he had a reputation for being "polite, courteous, respectful, friendly and kind."

Indeed, at his sentencing hearing testimony regarding his good character and achievements was given by teachers, coaches and his high school principal as well as members of his community, family, church and school board. As one of his teachers testified, "good people can do some horrible things" and there was much more to Napoleon than the terrible crime that he had committed. Even Cindy Garner, the District Attorney from Napoleon's home county (Houston County), testified at the sentencing hearing on Napoleon's behalf. While she has been a strong proponent of the death penalty, she continues to maintain that the death penalty is inappropriate in Napoleon's case.

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III. NAPOLEON WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH BASED ON WEAK AND INHERENTLY UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE THAT HE POSED A CONTINUING DANGER TO SOCIETY, INCLUDING SELF-SERVING STATEMENTS BY HIS ACCOMPLICES MADE IN EXCHANGE FOR AN AGREEMENT THAT THEIR LIVES WOULD BE SPARED.

Under Texas law, one of the most critical factors that a jury must consider in imposing a sentence of death is "whether there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society" -- otherwise known as future dangerousness. Texas juries are permitted to consider this factor notwithstanding scientific and medical proof that "future dangerousness" is impossible to predict on an individual basis. At Napoleon's trial, the most damaging witness against him was a psychologist who had never testified for the defense in a capital trial, who had never found a defendant in a capital case NOT to be a future danger, and who did not personally interview Napoleon or review his life history.

Conceding that the best indicators of future dangerousness are past criminal acts and that Napoleon had none, the psychologist nevertheless found Napoleon likely to be a future danger. The psychologist admitted that he based his opinion on a number statements about Napoleon which were made by Donald and Cedric Coleman (who were also involved in the killing and robbery of Mr. Luttig). Since the trial, the Coleman brothers have signed affidavits admitting that several of these statements and much of their critical trial testimony were untrue. They have also admitted that they testified for the State of Texas against Napoleon on the basis of an undisclosed deal that secured them life sentences.

Perhaps the most damaging piece of evidence relied on by the psychologist (and by the trial jury and appellate court) was testimony by Cedric and Donald Coleman that -- prior to the murder -- Napoleon had stated that "he wanted to feel what it was like to kill someone." Donald Coleman now admits that he never heard Napoleon say this. Cedric Coleman now swears that Napoleon never made such a statement prior to the murder. Rather he now states that, days after the crime, Napoleon was suicidal and depressed for having killed Mr. Luttig and -- in an effort to make sense of why he had done such a terrible thing -- stated, "I guess I was tripping and wanted to see what it was like to shoot somebody." Therefore, critical evidence used by the jury as the basis to sentence Napoleon to death was either unreliable, untrue or taken out of its actual context.

IV. EXECUTING JUVENILE OFFENDERS RUNS COUNTER TO BASIC AMERICAN STANDARDS OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

The execution of a juvenile offender is contrary to fundamental principles of American justice which punishes according to the degree of culpability and reserves the death penalty for the "worst of the worst" offenders. By their very nature, teenagers are less mature, and therefore less culpable, than adults who commit similar acts but have no such explanation for their conduct.
Adolescence is a transitional period of life when cognitive abilities, emotions, judgment, impulse control, identity -- even the brain -- are still developing. Indeed, immaturity is the reason we do not allow those under eighteen to assume the major responsibilities of adulthood such as military combat service, voting, entering into contracts, drinking alcohol or making medical decisions.

A number of organizations such as the American Bar Association, The American Psychiatric Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the Children's Defense Fund, the Youth Law Center, the Juvenile Law Center, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the National Mental Health Association, and the Constitution Project have come to oppose executions for crimes committed by offenders under the age of 18. Similarly, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Vatican have expressed their strongest opposition to the execution of juvenile offenders.

V. A MAJORITY OF STATES HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT SUBJECTING ADOLESCENTS AND TO THE DEATH PENALTY IS CONTRARY TO BASIC AND EVOLVING STANDARDS OF DECENCY

Of the 38 states that permit the death penalty, only 23 permit the execution of persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. Among these 23 states, only 16 have juvenile offenders on their death rows while only 7 have carried out actual executions of juveniles since the death penalty was reinstated in 1973. In 1999, the State of Montana abolished the juvenile death penalty while the Florida Supreme Court raised the age of eligibility from 16 to 17. A growing number of states are considering legislation to abolish the execution of juvenile offenders, including: Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. Indeed, in the Texas 2001 legislative session, a bill to eliminate the death penalty for offenders under 18 passed the House and gained significant support in the Senate before it was procedurally barred from reaching a vote on the Senate floor. Moreover, a recent national poll conducted by the Houston Chronicle indicated that solid support for the capital punishment of juvenile offenders has fallen to only 26%.

VI. EXECUTING JUVENILE OFFENDERS IS CONTRARY TO INTERNATIONAL LAW AND FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS

In continuing to execute juvenile offenders, the United States acts in defiance of international law and almost complete agreement among nations. Indeed, such executions have all but ended around the world, except in the United States. The death penalty for juvenile offenders is expressly prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the American Convention on Human Rights and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The United States and Somalia (which has no recognizable government) are the only two countries that have failed to ratify the CRC -- 191 nations have adopted the fundamental standards articulated in this treaty.

In the last decade, the United States has executed more juvenile offenders than all the world's nations combined. Since 1990, only seven countries are reported to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years of age at the time of the crime: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The nations of Pakistan, and Yemen have since abolished the juvenile death penalty, while Saudi Arabia and Nigeria deny that they have executed juvenile offenders. In the last three years the number of nations that execute juvenile offenders has dropped significantly to only three: Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States. Moreover, just this past year, Iran stated that it no longer executes juvenile offenders while the leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo commuted the death sentences of four juvenile offenders. The execution of Napoleon Beazley would further alienate the United States from the international community, thus damaging our legitimacy as a leader on the protection and promotion of human rights, particularly the rights of children.

ACTION AVAILABLE

Under Texas law, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has the exclusive power to commute a sentence of death to life in prison. The Board may do this upon the request of an inmate or if two of three trial officials seek a commutation. The trial officials are the trial judge, the trial prosecutor, and the county sheriff. In order to avoid burdening the court, please do not write the trial judge. Otherwise, please write to:

Governor Rick Perry
Attn: Office of General Counsel
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Attn: Executive Clemency Section
8610 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78757

J.B. Smith
Smith County Sheriff
106 E. Elm Street
Tyler, Texas 75702

Jack Skeen, Jr.
Smith County District Attorney
100 N. Broadway
Tyler, Texas 75702

David Dobbs
ex-Smith County Assistant District Attorney
112 E. Line, Suite 300
Tyler, Texas 75702

Copies of letters may be sent to:

Tyler Morning Telegraph
P.O. Box 2030
Tyler, Texas 75710

[Budwoman]

NIGHTHAWK

THIS ONE REALLY DOES MAKE ME MAD..... I HAVE WRITTEN TO GOV PERRY.... I HAVE SIGNED MANY PETITIONS ABOUT THIS SITUATION WITH AMNESTY, AND PEOPLE OF FAITH AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THE STATE OF TEXAS WOULD COMIT SUCH A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE.. THEY HAVE NOT EVEN PROVEN THIS BOY'S GUILT .


DONNA

[soraya]

makes me mad too.I'll send some letters out!

Where can I send Napoleon a letter? I just want to let him know he isn't forgotten and that people outside are fighting for him

[SSK]

napoleon Beazley
#999141.
FM 350 South
3872 Livingston, Texas
77351 USA

[soraya]

THANKS,gonna write him tonight

[SSK]

I like to get the attention back on Napoleon, he is scheduled to be executed next week. We cant send letters enought!!!!

[soraya]

I wrote Napoleon last week (hope he'll get it on time) to let him know a lot of people out there are fighting for him

I'll send some more letters to the board too

[SSK]

Soraya, from holland it takes about 4 days (when you send the letter with 'priority' ) to reach an inmate on D/R there. So im pretty sure it will be on time.....

[soraya]

ok. I've put it in an airmail envelop,put a priority sticker on it and a yellow highlight border around it...

[vnvdvc]

It doesn't make sense that the law is supposed to be pure reason and fact yet trained professionals are allowed to paint their own distorted view of a young man in front of a jury who is about to decide his fate. I could easily forgive one young man, but an entire government body??

[Shortie]

we need to bring some attention to this case. this one really hits home for me and i am sure that there is something we can do to help this man out. He was just a boy let's do all we can to help get a stay

[SSK]

ok ppl, i suggest all of us send emails and stuff!!
Lets do it for Napoleon, he really needs our help!

[Pam]

Napolean Beazley Update.
Sat May 25 00:05:53 2002
205.188.200.48

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to stop Beazley execution next week


The U.S. Supreme Court refused today to stop next week's execution of
convicted killer Napoleon Beazley, who is set to die for fatally shooting
the father of a federal judge in a carjacking in Tyler 8 years ago.

Beazley, 25, asked the high court for a reprieve to put off Tuesday's
lethal injection and asked the court to review his case.

Both requests were rejected.

The court did not disclose its vote, but said 3 justices did not
participate: Antonin Scalia, David Souter and Clarence Thomas.

J. Michael Luttig, the son of victim John Luttig, is a judge on the
Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and has clerked or
advised the 3 justices during his career. His connections to them forced
the trio to recuse themselves from Beazley's case.

Last August, when Beazley was nearing execution, the court voted 3-3 in a
similar appeal that sought to stop the execution. The punishment then was
halted just hours before Beazley was set to die when the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals agreed to look at an 11th-hour appeal.

That appeal eventually was rejected and the new execution date for
Tuesday was set last month.

Beazley, from Grapeland in East Texas, was 17 in 1994 when he shot and
killed John Luttig, 63, on the driveway of Luttig's Tyler home while
stealing his 10-year-old Mercedes Benz.

Capital punishment opponents are protesting his impending death, saying
it is barbaric to execute a teen-age offender. He would be the 11th
convicted killer in Texas to die for a murder committed at age 17.

Beazley has admitted being the gunman and has expressed remorse for the
slaying.

2 others who were with Beazley during the shooting received life prison
terms. Beazley, who had no previous convictions, received a death
sentence.

Although Gov. Rick Perry could issue a 1-time 30-day reprieve, Beazley's
last hope appeared to be with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles,
which is considering his request to commute his punishment to life in
prison. Board Chairman Gerald Garrett said Friday the board would take
its vote on Tuesday.

The recommendation then would have to go to Perry.

(source: Houston Chronicle)

[Joy]

Does anyone here honestly believe that he has a chance after shooting the father of a judge? This is so unfair... the system just does not work.

[SSK]

the thruth hurtst...im very very afraid you are right....