[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Fw: Amrine, Dennis, Abu Ali



VERY GOOD NEWS:
IN MISSOURI SUPREME COURT CANCELLED AMRINE’S CONVICTION.
IN TENNESSEE THE EXECUTION OF
PAUL DENNIS REID WAS STOPPED.

MANY THANKS TO EVERYBODY.

NOW, PLEASE, REMEMBER ABU ALI.

SPLENDIDE NOTIZIE:
IN MISSOURI LA CORTE SUPREMA HA ANNULLATO LA CONDANNA DI AMRINE
IN TENNESSEE L’ESECUZIONE DI PAUL DENNIS REID E’ STATA BLOCCATA.
MOLTI RINGRAZIAMENTI A TUTTI VOI.
ORA, PER FAVORE, RICORDATEVI DI ABU ALI.


 

Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman, black, aged 51

 

ITALIANO:   IN FONDO ALLA PAGINA

FRANÇAIS:  http://www.chez.com/aibfusa/urgent020410.html

 

30th April 2003

We can stop the machinery of death. We can save Abu-Ali. We must write to the People of Tennessee and let them know that the death penalty is stupid and expensive. Even after its first execution in 40 years (Robert Glen Coe in 2000) Tennessee has big doubts about the fairness of its judicial system, and Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman is a handbook case of unfairness.

FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA


Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on 18 June 2003. He was convicted in 1987 of the murder of Patrick Daniels, who was stabbed to death in 1986.
International safeguards require that capital defendants receive adequate representation at all stages of proceedings, above and beyond that afforded in non-capital cases. The quality of Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman's representation at the guilt/innocence stage of his trial has been called into question, and at the sentencing phase - when his lawyers were supposed to defend him from the death penalty - it patently failed to meet this standard.
At the sentencing phase, the defence presented none of the abundant mitigating evidence available. As a child, Abdur'Rahman had suffered appalling abuse at the hands of his father, a military policeman. This included being stripped, tied up, and locked in a cupboard; being struck on the penis with a baseball bat; and being made to eat a pack of cigarettes as punishment for smoking, and when he vomited, forced to eat the vomit. The jurors were also left unaware that Abdur'Rahman had suffered serious mental health problems, as had his brother and sister. His brother committed
suicide as an adult. His sister attempted suicide many times. Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman has been diagnosed as suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
In 1998 a US District Judge overturned the death sentence, writing that Abdur'Rahman had been 'seriously prejudiced by utterly ineffective assistance of counsel at his sentencing hearing'. He is the only judge to have heard live testimony from the numerous defence witnesses who were not called at the original trial. He said the 'overwhelming' nature of their and other evidence 'compels' the conclusion that the death sentence 'cannot stand'. In Tennessee, only a unanimous jury can pass a death sentence. If the trial lawyers had presented the mitigating evidence, the judge wrote, 'there is more than a reasonable probability that at least one juror would have voted for a life sentence rather than the death penalty'.
It would seem that he was right. Eight of the nine jurors contacted by the appeal lawyers now say that they might or would not have voted for death if they had heard the evidence in question. In his affidavit, for example, the foreman of the jury states: 'It is my belief and opinion that this evidence would have made a significant difference in the sentencing phase of the trial. Further, given the nature of the evidence I would further offer for consideration that the death penalty be overturned in this case'.
The death sentence has nevertheless survived the appeal process. In 2000 a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the District Judge's 1998 ruling and reinstated the death sentence. One of the three judges issued a strong dissent, citing the 'constitutionally inadequate' defence Abdur'Rahman had received at the sentencing phase.
In January 2002, a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice noted that even the two Sixth Circuit judges who voted to reinstate the death sentence 'did not seriously challenge the finding that Abdur'Rahman had received deficient representation'. He continued: '[I]t certainly seems inconsistent with visceral notions of fairness and justice that this state should impose the ultimate and irreversible penalty of death upon a man whose opportunity to defend himself in court was compromised by the proven ineptitude of his attorneys.' The state Supreme Court Justice concluded by stating for the record that Governor Don Sundquist should commute the death sentence.
In addition, doubts persist as to whether Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman was the person who actually stabbed Patrick Daniels. The Davidson County prosecutor mainly relied on the testimony of Abdur'Rahman's co-defendant, Devalle Miller, to persuade the jury that Abdur'Rahman had wielded the knife. Miller avoided the death penalty in exchange for his testimony and a guilty plea to second degree murder, for which he has was paroled after six years in prison. The unreliability of such testimony is reflected in rules recently adopted by the Davidson County prosecutor's office: 'The death penalty will not be sought in cases where the evidence consists of the uncorroborated testimony of a single eyewitness or of a cooperating codefendant or accomplice'. Under these rules, it is unlikely that the prosecutor could have sought the death penalty for Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman in the first place.
Abdur'Rahman himself does not deny that he was involved in the crime, but has consistently claimed that he cannot remember the stabbing itself, a possible sign of a PTSD blackout. Forensic testing found no blood on a long wool coat he was wearing, despite the bloodiness of the crime scene. In an internal memorandum before the trial, the prosecutor noted this forensic report and wrote that 'if the defendant did wear his coat the entire time he obviously was not present when the stabbing occurred'. However, he did not make Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman's trial lawyers aware of the report. This is one of a number of instances of prosecutorial misconduct attributed to him in this and other cases.
In their affidavits, several of the jurors expressed concern that they did not know about the forensic report's findings. Studies have shown that residual doubt about a capital defendant's guilt is the most powerful mitigating factor against a death sentence in the minds of capital jurors.

 


MODEL LETTER FROM AI BELGIUM

I am writing to you to express my deep concern over the fate of Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman, due to be executed in Tennessee on 18 June 2003, for the 1986 murder of Patrick Daniels. Before going any further, I would like to express my sympathy for the family and friends of Patrick Daniels.
It seems that Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman's conviction was made possible only because he did not receive adequate representation during his trial. At the sentencing stage, his lawyers failed to produce substantial mitigating evidence, such as the abuse he had suffered as a child, and his serious mental health problems. Eight of the jurors later declared that had they heard of such evidence, they would not have voted for death.
I am also deeply concerned that doubts remain as to Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman's guilt. Forensic testing found no blood on the wool coat he was wearing at the time of the crime. In their affidavits, several members of the jury claimed that they had not been made aware of these forensic findings, which would have been a powerful mitigating factor against a death sentence. Therefore, it seems to me that the jury's sentencing decision cannot, in good conscience, be relied upon to carry out this execution.
I thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for giving it all your attention.
Yours sincerely,

 

PLEASE, SEND AN ILLUSTRATED POST CARD,  IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE TO:

The Tennessean

E-mail: letters@tennessean.com
Web Site: www.tennessean.com
Phone: (615) 259-8000
Fax: (615) 259-8808
 1100 Broadway Nashville, TN  37203-3116

 

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

E-mail: letters@knews.com
Web Site: www.knoxnews.com
Phone: (423) 521-1861
Fax: (423) 521-8124
 208 West Church Avenue Knoxville, TN  37902

 

The Chattanooga Times/Chattanooga Free Press

E-mail: haustin@chattimes.mindspring.com
Web Site: www.timesfreepress.com
Phone: (423) 756-6900
Fax: (423) 757-6383
 400 E. 11th St. Chattanooga, TN  37403

 

The Commercial Appeal

E-mail: kushma@gomemphis.com
Web Site: gomemphis.com
Phone: (901) 529-2788
Fax: (901) 529-6445
 495 Union Avenue  Memphis, TN  38103-3221

 

The Nashville City Paper

E-mail: letters@nashvillecitypaper.com
Web Site: www.nashvillecitypaper.com
Phone: (615) 298-9833
Fax: (615) 298-2780
 PO Box 158434  Nashville, TN  37215-8434

 

Nashville Scene

E-mail: editor@nashvillescene.com
Web Site: www.nashvillescene.com
Phone: (615) 244-7989
Fax: (516) 244-8578
 2120 8th Ave S  Nashville, TN  37204-2204

 

Il 18 giugno Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman ha un appuntamento con il boia. Noi possiamo fermare la macchina della morte e salvargli la vita, ma per farlo dobbiamo convincere il Popolo del Tennessee dell’inutilità e della stupidità della pena capitale. Negli ultimi 40 anni il Tennessee ha ucciso una sola volta (Robert Glen Coe nel 2000) e in tutto lo stato ci sono ancora fortissimi dubbi sull’equità del sistema  giudiziario. Abu-Ali ne è un esempio da manuale.

Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman è stato condannato a morte per l’uccisione di Patrick Daniels. Permangono gravi dubbi sulla sua colpevolezza. La sua condanna è stata ottenuta grazie alla testimonianza del complice che in cambio se l’è cavata con 6 anni di carcere. La giuria non venne informata del suo grave stato di salute mentale (afferma di non ricordare nulla del delitto)e 8 dei 12 giurati hanno dichiarato che non lo condannerebbero più a morte.
Scrivete una cartolina illustrata agli indirizzi che troverete sopra.

MA SOPRATTUTTO FATE CIRCOLARE QUESTO MESSAGGIO

 

COMITATO “3 LUGLIO 1849”
Per i diritti umani, contro la pena di morte
Membro fondatore della World Coalition Against Death Penalty
COMMITTEE “3rd JULY 1849”
For human rights, against the death penalty
Founding member of the World Coalition Against Death Penalty
web site
http://www.mhumphrey.com/comitato

e-mail   comitato3luglio1849@tiscali.it
c/o
DOTT. CLAUDIO GIUSTI
VIA NULLO BALDINI 14, 47100 FORLI', ITALIA
TEL. 39/0543/550867  39/340/4872522
e-mail  giusticlaudio@inwind.it
La Repubblica Romana fu il primo stato sovrano a scrivere nella propria costituzione l’abolizione totale della pena di morte, il 3 luglio 1849. Il Comitato, ispirandosi alla tradizione libertaria ed abolizionista del nostro Paese, si batte contro la pena di morte e per il rispetto dei diritti  umani indicati agli articoli  2 – 21 della Dichiarazione Universale.
The Roman Republic was the first state to write in its constitution the total abolition of the death penalty, on 3rd July 1849. This Committee follows this tradition fighting against the death penalty and for the human rights listed in the articles 2-21 of the Universal Declaration of 10th December 1948.