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Dear Governor Taft:
I am writing to express my
opposition to the scheduled execution of John Byrd,Jr., who will be put
to death by the electric
chair in Ohio on September 12, 2001. I respectfully call upon you to
exercise your constitutional
authority with regard to the clemency process. I urge you to halt the execution
and grant clemency. The state of Ohio should not execute Mr. Byrd in light
of the grave
doubts about Mr. Byrd's
guilt. Since 1972, 98 people have been released from Death Row following
the emergence of evidence
signifying their wrongful convictions.
To many, Johnny Byrd is just
one more criminal who must pay with his life for a crime for which he
was convicted. However,
this case presents disturbing facts that should not be disregarded. John
Byrd was convicted at age
19 in a court in Hamilton County for the killing of Monte Tewksbury
during a convenience store
robbery in 1983. Johnny Byrd maintains, as he had for the past 18 years,
that he did not commit the
crime. Johnny Byrd was convicted for the crime of another man. John
Brewer is the person who
committed the crime. John Brewer has for quite some time admitted that
he was the actual killer
furthermore, John Brewer has signed 2 separate affidavits to that effect.
Johnny Byrd, John Brewer
and a third man, Danny Woodall, were arrested and charged with armed
robbery and murder in the
case, although the prosecutors singled out Johnny Byrd for the death
penalty. The Brewer affidavits
and other evidence strongly suggest that the prosecution picked the
wrong man. The State
overlooked the physical evidence that pointed to Mr. Brewer as the real
killer -evidence developed
by police investigators and the police crime lab. Instead of physical
evidence, the prosecution
was based on questionable testimony from Ronald Armstead, a notorious
career criminal, who had
been incarcerated with Byrd, Brewer and Woodall. Armstead, a parole
violator who faced being
returned to prison for a long time, looked to informing on Johnny Byrd
as
his get-out-of-jail free
card. What is especially curious about Armstead is that the Hamilton County
Prosecutors Office had earlier on said of him, "He represents a substantial
risk of going out and committing acts of violence against innocent victims,
and under no circumstances should he be released."
But when the prosecutors
had a capital case to try, they saw Armstead in a new light, arranged
Armstead's release by giving
him a free plane ticket to San Diego to join his brother. The jury was
unaware that Armstead and
the prosecutor had cut a deal that cast strong doubt on Armstead's
credibility.
Other inmates who were incarcerated
with Johnny Byrd and Armstead have all stated that Armstead
was lying when he testified
against Johnny Byrd.
Our judicial system has failed.
The courts have been unable or unwilling to really review all the facts
of this case. This case
is complex and requires careful scrutiny. There are serious questions as
to
whether Johnny Byrd committed
the stabbing. Johnny Byrd must not be executed based solely on
the perjured testimony of
a jailhouse snitch, when the truth is that Johnny Byrd did not commit the
crime. I appeal to
you, as the Ohio Official charged with the task of acting as Ohio's final
failsafe to
prevent such miscarriages
of justice from occurring, to commute Mr. Byrd's sentence to life in
prison.
A case with facts similar
to Johnny Byrd's case in Illinois resulted in Gov. Ryan declaring a
moratorium on the death
penalty. In Idaho recently, Charles Fain was released from prison after
being convicted of a murder
in 1983 based on the false testimony of jailhouse informants. Here
in
Ohio, it is essential that
Mr. Byrd's execution be stopped before wrongful execution takes place.
Whether one supports or opposes
the death penalty, a central net of our system of justice is that
those who may receive the
government's harshest punishment, the death penalty, must have effective
legal counsel and access
to a fair trial. Otherwise, we risk an uneven and unfair application of
the
law, with the burden of
executing the innocent. We respectfully urge you to halt the execution
of John
Byrd, and insure that the
state of Ohio does not kill the wrong man. If this death sentence is carried
out it in this questionable
case, it will shame our system of justice and it would diminish us all.
Bianca Jagger,
Sept 10, 2001
Source : Bianca Jagger
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