News: from Lorna

Aug 5, 2004, EXECUTION DATE SET

In January I visited a young man on Death Row in Livingston, Texas. His name is Dominique Green. In 1992, he and three others were involved in a serious crime, he was eighteen at the time - and has been sitting on Death Row ever since. Dominique is black. The two other black guys got jail sentences - the white guy never went to court. Dominique and I had been corresponding for a few years and then we finally came face-to-face through a glass partition and spoke via a telephone. I met a softly-spoken, intelligent, well-read, educated young man. Despite a ghastly, ghastly, ghastly childhood he never missed school. My objective here is not to get into a discussion of the circumstances, but to appeal to you for help. The date of his execution has been set: October 26th 2004. On that day, they will strap him to a table and inject fluids into his God-created body, to kill him. Please pray for Dominique and if you would like to put your prayers into action, please write a letter for clemency to: Governor Rick Perry P.O. Box 12428 Austin, TX 78711 the salutation should be: Dear Governor Perry, ******* Let us also pray for those who will be involved in this procedure - which means not only those at the actual execution, but society as a whole - that we as a human family will stop killing ourselves: "for as you do to the least of my brethern so you do unto me." Dominique's case has exhausted all appeals, all that is left is the Supreme Court or clemency. Since this is Texas, it looks bad, but nothing is impossible for God. If you are interested in donating money for Dominique's appeal which is sorely needed, you can go to: www.santegidio.org Prompt the "donations" link to make the donation online, or make out a check to David Atwood specifically marked "for the defense of Dominique Green." Or, you can send a check to: Washington Mutual Bank 13201 Memorial Drive Houston, TX 77079 Account # 931 055 1810 The check should be made out to: David Atwood (in the memo on the bottom left of the check, write: for the defense of Dominique Green. David is the head of the Anti Death Penalty Coalition in Texas. The following is a news item regarding Archbishop Desmond Tutu's visit to Dominique this past March. 03-25-04 State: Desmond Tutu visits Texas death row inmate Associated Press LIVINGSTON — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu said his passionate opposition to the death penalty brought him Wednesday to Texas’ death row to meet with a condemned inmate who believes the writings of the South African archbishop have changed his life for the better. Tutu spent nearly two hours inside the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice where he huddled with Dominique Green, sentenced to die for the slaying of a Houston man during a robbery outside a convenience store more than 12 years ago. “I come away deeply enriched by my encounter with an extraordinary young man,” Tutu said. “I have met quite a few people in my time, but I have not been as impressed by someone I’ve met very briefly through a glass partition... He is a remarkable young man. “It would be one of the greatest tragedies if someone like Dominique would be executed.” Green was 19 in 1993 when a jury decided he should receive lethal injection for the fatal shooting of Andrew Lastrapes Jr., 41, who was gunned down while parking his truck in southwest Houston. Lastrapes became of one 10 people robbed during a three-day crime spree authorities said involved Green. Two other men received lesser prison terms for robbery. A fourth man was not charged. Green was described during his trial as a crack cocaine dealer with an extensive juvenile record for weapons and drug offenses and burglaries. Green’s supporters include historian and best-selling author Thomas Cahill, whose friendship with Tutu helped expedite Wednesday’s session with the archbishop. The supporters believe Green’s trial was marked by racism, that his court-appointed lawyer was incompetent and that he was the product of a disfunctional family that jurors did not consider. Green and two of his companions are black. The one man not charged was white. An all-white jury decided Green’s fate. Appeals in his case have been filed to the U.S. Supreme Court, his lawyers said Wednesday. He does not have an execution date. “It’s definitely been an experience,” Green said of his session with Tutu. “He told me enlightening and inspirational things... It definitely gave me a lot to think about. “I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s just one of those moments in life you refer to.” “He is like a flower opening, and you see the petals come up,” Tutu said, describing the inmate. “He could have felt self-pity, but he was nothing like that. He is a remarkable advertisement for God. This is not the monster that many would wish, or think, that is on death row.” Although they were separated by a glass partition, he and Green exchanged a high-five against the glass. Green is among about 450 men awaiting death in Texas, where 321 convicted killers have been executed since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. That total is the highest in the nation among states with the death penalty. Tutu contended capital punishment does none of things advocates say it does, and called it a perverse way to show respect for life and an “absurdity that brutalizes society.” “I am very concerned for a people that I love very much,” he said. “You are one of the most generous peoples in the world, Americans, ... but I find that very dificult to square that with a remarkable vindictiveness which doesn’t square with your incredible generosity.” On the Net: http://savedominiquegreen.com IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS CASE, PLEASE GO TO "DOMINIQUE GREEN" ON THE INTERNET.

 

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