"AS THE TRANSCRIPTS CLEARLY STATE THAT
              THE DNA EVIDENCE DOES NOT MATCH MINE."
                                                                         - from text below
 

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Jesse Patrick Clemency Appeal   Help us put pressure on officials to get new DNA tests for Jesse !

              Jesse's Wife Hester: Setting The Record Straight

Friends, I'm posting this copy of my letter to the Editor of the Houston Chronicle...
in an attempt to set the record straight about Jesse's case.
In their description of Jesse's execution, they describe him as a "Convicted Rapist".  The article, written by Michael Graczyk of the Associated press, is carried in one form or another in several papers, and may have been quoted on local television.
Jesse was never convicted of rape, and to say so is sloppy and indifferent reporting on behalf of the Texas press, and makes a mockery of our many attempts to get DNA samples tested on this very issue that could have cleared Jesse completely of this charge.
It seems that even in death, there is no justice in Texas for those on death row.
Hester Patrick
______________________________________________________

Mrs Hester M. Patrick
London, England
Email: hessiepatrick@yahoo.co.uk

20th September 2002
To the Editor of the “Houston Chronicle”
Dear Sir/Madam

Setting the Record Straight “Convicted Rapist, Murderer Executed” Your Article (18th September 2002) covering the execution of Jesse Joe Patrick

The 18th of September edition of your paper carried an article on the execution of my husband, Jesse Joe Patrick.  The headline and statement in the body of the article describe Jesse as a convicted rapist. Your information is incorrect.  Jesse was never convicted of rape.
In the transcripts of his trial it is clearly recorded that the state attempted twice to indict him with this offense, and were unable to prove the indictment on both occasions.

DNA samples are available for testing that could conclusively prove Jesse’s guilt or innocence over this issue.  However, the state of Texas has blocked, with rigorous and persistent enthusiasm, all attempts by Jesse’s attorney and myself to allow the testing of this evidence from going ahead, spending well over $14,000.00 of Texas tax payer’s money in the process.
All this to stop a DNA test that cost $1,000.00 in privately raised funds from proceeding.

The almost total indifference that we have met with from the state whilst attempting to have this evidence examined leads me to believe that the chance of murdering the innocent is certainly giving the Texas Judiciary no sleepless nights.

Your reporter, Michael Graczyk, also states that certain physical evidence presented against him at trial “matched” Jesse.  This is also incorrect.  The trial record states that hair samples found at the crime scene were from that part of the population with hair similar to Jesse’s but could not be proved to come specifically from him, with the chances of the hair being his checking out at a ratio of one in one million.  Dental evidence in the form of a bite mark was
presented at trial, using photographs instead of hard physical evidence.  Although the State’s expert witness stated that, in his opinion, the bite mark was Jesse’s, the method used could only be an interpretation of the evidence and NOT an identification.

Jesse was convicted of murder whilst attempting to burglarize a habitation.

He was NOT convicted of rape.

To say so and in print, is libelous and shows slack and indifferent research into this case.
I hope that you will have the decency to print this letter, and remove the slur that you have placed on the name and memory of a dearly loved and deeply missed husband, father and friend.

Hester Patrick
20th September 2002

Jesse Joe Patrick, a Dallas County man sentenced to death for the 1989 rape and murder of a neighbor, was executed Tuesday evening in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.

Patrick was found guilty of brutally killing 80-year-old Nina Rutherford on the night of July 8, 1989. Patrick, who had previously served two years of a four year term for aggravated assault, was 44.

Wearing a red shirt, Patrick made no final statement but nodded to his British wife Hester, who had married by proxy while on death row. As the lethal dose of drugs began flowing at 6:10 p.m., Hester Patrick said "I love you" to her husband through the plexiglass divider.

After a few moments, Patrick made one long sputter and lost consciousness. His wife began to sob and emitted a loud wail. After a few moments, she turned away and began to address Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees in the room with her, calling them "bastards."

"I hope you are satisfied now," she said. "You ought to do something about your justice system. This is a disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Patrick was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. In a statement released after the execution, Rutherford's family expressed compassion for the Patrick family.

"Our prayers are for the Patrick family during this sad time of grief," they wrote. "This is not a vendetta or a social event. We all hurt and  hope the Patricks can understand our grief for the past 13 years waiting for justice to be done."

Patrick was arrested on July 22, 1989, in Jackson Miss. and was extradited to Texas to face a capital murder charge filed in Rutherford's death. Patrick became a suspect within hours after
Rutherford was found beaten with her throat slit by a rusted butcher's knife. He had called police to report a burglary at his house -- two doors down from Rutherford's -- but was gone by the time police arrived.

Police obtained a search warrant and searched Patrick's house the next day, finding a sock caked in dried blood, an amount of toilet paper with dried blood on it, and a pair of denim jeans also covered in blood. Testing showed the blood on the sock and toilet paper to be a
genetic match with Redd's; Patrick's girlfriend identified the butcher knife as her's and a partial palm print from Redd's bathroom window sill matched Patrick's.

Patrick confessed to the crime shortly after his arrest, but later recanted. He was found guilty by a Dallas County jury on the capital murder charge and sentenced to death on April 16, 1990. He had attempted to obtain a stay of execution so DNA testing could be done on the semen found in Rutherford's body, but that appeal was rejected on the grounds that there was no "reasonable probability" such a test would prove his innocence.

In Huntsvile, a convict with a history of assaults was executed Tuesday for raping and fatally beating and slashing an 80-year-old Dallas woman during an attack at her home more than 13 years ago.

Jessie Joe Patrick already was on parole when evidence showed he crawled through a window and killed Nina Rutherford Redd, who lived alone a few houses away from him.

Patrick, 44, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. CDT, 7 minutes after the lethal dose began.

He declined to make a final statement, but smiled and nodded to his wife, brother and other relatives as they entered the chamber.

His wife, Hester Patrick, repeatedly said, "I love you."

As he gasped and sputtered when the drugs began taking effect, his wife began wailing, and at one point she cried out: "Bastards!"

Then in the moments after her husband lost consciousness and before being examined by a physician who pronounced him dead, Hester Patrick bitterly denounced the death penalty and criminal justice system.

"I hope you all are satisfied now," she said. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Patrick's attorneys filed last-ditch appeals in the federal courts to try to block the punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals about an hour before he was executed.

Earlier appeals also were unsuccessful to have DNA testing of some evidence in hopes of exonerating him. Prosecutors argued a state district judge who agreed to the tests had no authority to do so and evidence against Patrick was overwhelming.

"This was not his first go-round with the law," recalled Jerri Sims, the former Dallas County district attorney who prosecuted Patrick for capital murder for the July 8, 1989, slaying. "It was so brutal. And, of course, he had no remorse."

Patrick's Austin-based lawyer, Keith Hampton, also questioned Patrick's mental competence, saying the former landscaper was mentally retarded and putting him to death would be unconstitutional.

There was no IQ test for Patrick, however, to quantify Hampton's contention.

Sims said the possibility of mental retardation never surfaced at his trial.

Patrick, his girlfriend and their infant son, had moved recently into the neighborhood in the Pleasant Grove section of southeast Dallas, and Redd had allowed them to use her phone and gave them milk for the child.

On the night of the killing, court records show he had been drinking and had tried to rape his girlfriend.

Redd's 78-year-old sister, who lived next door, discovered the body.

"Our prayers are for the Patrick family during this sad time of grief," Redd's family said in a statement released after the execution. "This is not a vendetta or a social event. We all hurt and hope the Patrick's can understand our grief for the past 13 years waiting for justice to be
done..."

"Our family will always grieve for the way Nina die."

Police questioning neighbors began suspecting Patrick when his girlfriend said it appeared the distinctive wood-handled and square-tipped butcher knife found lying next to Redd's body appeared to be his.

Detectives found Patrick's palm print outside the victim's bathroom window sill. A sock in a trash can at Patrick's home was stained with blood that matched the victim. A dentist testified a bite mark on the slain woman's wrist matched Patrick's dental impression. Hairs at the slaying scene matched Patrick's hair.

Police arrested Patrick 2 weeks later at his sister's home in Jackson, Miss. When officers arrived, he was hiding under a bed.

Jurors deliberated about 50 minutes before convicting him of the slaying. It took the same jury less than 45 minutes to decide on the death sentence after 3 women testified Patrick either had assaulted or raped them in a drunken rage.

Patrick, a Los Angeles native, 1st went to prison in September 1985 for aggravated assault. He was released on probation after serving less than 4 months of a 4-year term, but returned 6 months later as a parole violator. Less than 6 months later, in January 1987, was paroled to
Dallas County.

Patrick declined to speak with reporters in the weeks preceding his execution date. On a Web site used by inmates to attract penpals, he offered assurances to potential correspondents that "I am not an animal, but rather a down-to-earth person."

Another lethal injection was set for Wednesday. Ron Shamburger, 30, was condemned for the 1994 fatal shooting of Texas A&M University student Lori Baker during a burglary at her College Station home. Shamburger was a 5th-year senior at A&M at the time.

Patrick becomes the 25th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 281st overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982.

Patrick becomes the 49th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 798th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

I have been on Death Row since June 14th, 1990, and I have been locked up since July 7th, 1989.

After I was convicted of this crime, and my case appealed with Court appointed attorneys, I have tried to get each of them to make me a copy of my trial transcripts.  But after all this time, my wife went to my attorneys office in Austin, Texas, and made copies of the transcripts herself.   Anyway, I knew there were some things said about the DNA evidence not matching mine.  But I wasn't for sure, and I've talked to each of the attorneys I've had on this appeal and each have agreed that there was some problems with the DNA evidence, but when I ask if they were going to challenge this on appeal, two of them did, but not very well, and my Direct Appeal and my State Appeal both were denied.  So now I am in Federal Court and the attorney I have now said he was going to challenge this but never did.   I talked to him face to face about this issue, my wife borrowed 5000 $ dollars to have this DNA test done, but the lawyer used it to have two psychologists come talk to me.  And this was a waste of good investigation money, money we cannot replace, and need desperately to have this checked on.  As my case is in the Federal Courts, and I could "possibly" be facing an Execution date as early as next year ( 2000.)

I am in desperate need of someone to help me raise the money for another investigation into this matter.  I will gladly have a copy of the Transcripts made and sent  to anyone willing to help me on this matter.  As the Transcripts clearly state that the DNA evidence DOES NOT MATCH MINE !  Now that I have some proof of this, I really do need the financial help to have something done.

For this I would be greatly thankful.  I do not want to die if someone has committed this crime.  And I need to try to raise the $5000 myself to hire a Private Investigator to have this done.

If there is anyone out there that is willing to help me with this matter, please contact me at :

                  Jesse Patrick Sr. #000975
                      Polunsky Unit D.R
                     3872 FM 350 South
                       Livingston Texas
                           77351 USA

If there is anyone out there willing to send any donations for this cause to me, please send any donations to:

Inmate Trust Fund - Jesse Patrick Sr  000975
PO Box 60
Huntsville, Texas
77343
USA

If anyone sends any donations to this cause, please DO NOT send any notes or letters to the Trust Fund address,
or it will be denied.  Please send all notes, cards, or letters of correspondence to the personal address above.

    
                        N.C.A.D.P's Alert on Jesse Patrick :

Jesse Patrick (TX)  Sept. 17, 2002

                    Jesse Patrick, a white man, is scheduled to be executed in the state of Texas on Sept. 17 for the 1989 robbery, assault and murder of an 80-year-old Nina Rutherford Redd of Dallas.
                    During the evening before the crime was committed, Patrick drank heavily and took drugs. He says he has  no recollection of the events of that night, recalling only waking up on a park bench near his home in the early hours of the following morning.
                    During his direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Patrick raised 31 points of order; all were denied. Several of the points of order alleged ineffective assistance of counsel. Patrick argued that his counsel failed to discover that a prior aggravated assault conviction was invalid and failed to object to its admission at trial; this invalid conviction was used by the prosecution to argue that Patrick constituted a future danger to society. Patrick also argued that his trial counsel failed to object to the admissibility of DNA evidence introduced by the prosecutor and failed to contest its accuracy; and that his trial counsel
failed to object to incorrect definitions given to the jury.
                    Patrick was the victim of sustained and brutal sexual, emotional, and physical abuse throughout his childhood. He began drinking at the age of 12 and continued to abuse alcohol up until his incarceration. By the age of 30, he regularly suffered from blackouts and memory loss. He became suicidal and sustained head injuries while trying to kill himself by driving off an overpass. These injuries never received medical treatment. Around this time, he was involved in a fight, which resulted in a sever blow to his head with a baseball bat.  Again, this injury received no significant medical attention.
                    Patrick’s attorneys have been trying to seek DNA testing of crime scene evidence.  A state district judge agreed to the testing, but was overruled by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Patrick should be allowed full access to new DNA technology and his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel should be fully heard.

Please write the governor of Texas and the Board of Pardons
and Paroles and ask them to stay Patrick’s execution.

PLEASE FAX NOW BECAUSE TIME IS SHORT !

Governor Rick Perry                   Gerald Garrett, Chairman of Board of Pardons & Paroles
Attn: Office of General Counsel                  420 S. Main
P.O. Box 12428                                           San Antonio, TX  78204
Austin, Texas 78711-2428                            210-226-6862
Fax: 512/463-1849                                       210-226-1114 Fax

    
                                                
                                            Photo of Jesse Sr. and Jesse 2nd (Summer '99)

                 Jesse Patrick's pen pal request:
Hi my name is Jesse J. Patrick Sr. I'm on death row in the state of Texas, USA.
I've been on D/R for 9 1/2 years now, and have been locked up for 10 1/2 years.
Currently I only write to two other people.  I'm seeking female or male pen-pals to write to, I would prefer to write to a female, as both the people I currently write are males.   I'm 41 years old, 6 foot tall, weight 210 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, (thinning rapidly !) I currently shave my head, bald is style : ) !
I have two children, that are my life !  I'm half American Indian / White Male.
I currently enjoy reading (Action-adventure, and western novels),I enjoy playing basketball and  handball as a form of excercise.   And I do enjoy writing letters, and trying to improve my typing skills.  I also enjoy watching soccer, american football, and basketball, and old classic movies on T.V. I will wrote to anyone, but would prefer to write to someone of my age bracket, 30-50+ years old, however all or any responses are welcome.  This includes heterosexual, gay or bi-sexuals.  I am looking for friends and I do not discriminate against any Peoples !   I would appreciate your responses.

       Jesse Patrick Sr. #000975
                     Polunsky Unit D.R
                    3872 FM 350 South
                      Livingston Texas
                          77351 USA

                      The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Prisoners
                                              Contact us for more information.
            
                                                       "The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now"