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March 23

TEXAS: death row inmate dies in prison

A laid-off farmhand, who had volunteered to help South Plains law
officers search for a missing 5-year-old girl but was later convicted in
her slaying, died after complaining of chest pains.

Eddie Rowton, a death row inmate, was escorted Wednesday to a prison
infirmary in Livingston, where he collapsed 15 minutes later in the exam
room, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.

Prison officials began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and alerted
emergency medical services who transferred Rowton, 47, to Memorial
Medical Center.

The inmate was pronounced dead at 9:31 p.m. Wednesday, said Larry
Fitzgerald, a TDCJ spokesman.

Rowton was sentenced to death in 1999 for the beating death of Shawnlee
Perry, whose body was found in a field after a 111-day search by
residents in the small South Plains town of Earth, about 55 miles
northwest of Lubbock.

Former Lamb County sheriff's Deputy Tracy Bridges testified during
Rowton's capital murder trial that the farmhand had at one point
volunteered to help search for the missing girl.

John Cox, who was Earth's police chief during Shawnlee's disappearance,
spent many hours trying to solve her disappearance. He said that he had
planned to attend Rowton's execution before getting word of his death.

"I can't say it saddens me," Cox told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in
today's editions. "The big judge took care of it is what it sounds like
to me."

Earth Police Chief K.D. West, who also worked on the case, said, "I have
no sympathy whatsoever for that monster."

Shawnlee was abducted from her back yard on May 7, 1992, after she went
out to play with her neighborhood friends while her mother unpacked
groceries. Her body was found on Aug. 26, 1992, by a farmer in a grassy
field near a dilapidated shack northwest of town.

Shawnlee had suffered several broken bones and her clothes were turned
inside out.

Lamb County District Attorney Mark Yarbrough, a prosecutor in the case,
said Rowton's death was a relief.

"Maybe it'll bring some closure for that family," he said. "And it's a
relief also that it won't be a burden for the taxpayers."

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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For immediate release
Friday, March 23, 2001 Contact:
Laura Burstein (202) 822-5200 ex.222
Peter Loge (202) 638-5855

Support for Reform of Death Penalty Remains Strong

Eighty four percent support certification of court appointed
attorneys in death penalty cases

Overwhelming majorities of Americans continue to support
significant changes to the nation's capital punishment system,
according to a survey released by The Justice Project today.

The poll found that nine of ten of those surveyed favor providing
DNA testing for those on death row, and almost as many support
a requirement that defense lawyers in death penalty cases be
certified as qualified. In addition, nearly three-quarters of
American people say we should suspend executions until issues
of fairness can be resolved.

"These results are almost identical to what a bi-partisan polling
team found last August," said Wayne F. Smith, Executive Director
of The Justice Project. "The American people are clearly calling
for reforms to the way we sentence people to death in this country."

The survey, of 813 voters, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research
Associates by phone on March 8 and 9, found 91% of Americans
support allowing access to DNA testing for those on death row,
which compares to 89% who supported DNA testing in August.
In addition, 84% support requiring court appointed attorneys in
death penalty cases to have prior experience in death penalty
cases and to be certified as qualified to handle a death penalty
case by the local bar association. This compares with 83% who
supported that provision in August.

"Congress has before it the Innocence Protection Act, legislation
that would guarantee access to DNA evidence and encourage states
to set minimum standards for defense counsel," said Smith. "These
are exactly the reforms the American people are calling for."

The Innocence Protection Act 2001 was introduced by Senators
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Susan Collins (R-ME,
and Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and Ray LaHood (R-IL)
on March 7.

The bill currently has a bi-partisan group of 16 cosponsors in
the Senate and 175 cosponsors in the House.

For additional comment, please contact Wayne Smith or Peter Loge
at The Justice Project, 202-638-5855.

...............
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Sheriffs cleared but jailer can go to trial in inmate death
3/21/01

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that two East Texas
sheriffs cannot be sued for their actions in a case that resulted in the
death of an inmate.

However, the three judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
the same case against an Upshur County jailer can proceed.

Last week, the panel ruled that former Upshur County Sheriff R.D. ``Buck''
Cross and the late Marion County Sheriff Eugene Tefteller were qualified for
immunity.

``Their conduct has not been shown to be other than objectively reasonable in
light of clearly established law,'' the judges wrote.

Betty and Donald Thompson, the parents of inmate Michael Ray Thompson, filed
a wrongful death suit in July 1998 against Upshur and Marion counties, the
sheriffs and several jailers. The civil suit was filed in Marshall federal
court.

Michael Ray Thompson, 33, died in the Upshur County Jail on Aug. 29, 1997.

He had been arrested in Upshur County four days earlier, but was transported
to the Marion County Jail the next evening because the Upshur County Jail was
overcrowded.

Thompson was returned to the Upshur County Jail on the afternoon of Aug. 28,
after he began showing signs of delirium tremens, or DTs, which affect people
addicted to alcohol as they go through withdrawal, the judges' ruling says.

He was returned because Upshure had a detoxification cell.

Thompson had a seizure about 7 a.m. Aug. 29, and stopped breathing, the
ruling says. Paramedics were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead
about 9 a.m. at East Texas Medical Center.

Despite finding for the sheriffs and Lt. Robert Cromley of the Upshur County
Jail, the appeals court ruled the suit against Paula Whorton, a jailer at the
Upshur County Jail at the time of Thompson's death, to proceed to trial.

``We think the 5th Circuit made the appropriate decision in relation to the
sheriff and Lt. Cromley. We look forward to trying the case representing Lt.
Whorton,'' Robert Scott Davis, the attorney representing Upshur County, told
the Longview News-Journal.

Attorney Scott Carlile of Marshall, who is representing Thompson's parents,
said, ``Obviously, we're disappointed.

``This is a guy who was put in a straitjacket, who was banging his head
against the wall and bleeding out of his ears and nose,'' he said of the last
hours before Thompson's death.

Cross was defeated when he ran for re-election in 2000. Tefteller, 65, a
veteran Texas law enforcement officer, died in August 1999 after a short
illness.

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I received a letter from Timothy Robinson, d/r inmate in Florida, asking me
to publish following text on his behalf. Can anybody help in any way? I
don't know his case personally, but just herewith convey his missive:

"ALERT...ATTENTION...HELP! DEATH ROW PRISONER, TIMOTHY ROBINSON #39378 UNION
CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, P.O.BOX 221, RAIFORD, FLORIDA, 32083, USA, WHO DUE
TO HIS WORK AS A JAILHOUSE LAWYER FOR DEATH ROW PRISONERS RIGHTS AND
PRIVILEGES IS UNDER FULL SCALE ATTACK BY PRISON GUARDS AND ADMINISTRATORS,
AND IS IN IMMEDIATE NEED OF YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT.
THE INFAMOUS MURDER OF DEATH ROW PRISONER INMATE FRANK VALDEZ #072791,
BEATEN TO DEATH BY PRISON GUARDS, HAS A DARK SECRET CLOUD SURROUNDING IT
THAT PRISON OFFICIALS WANT TO KEEP HIDDEN FROM THE PUBLIC. INMATE VALDEZ
WORKED AS A HIT-MAN FOR PRISON GUARDS IN MURDER FOR HIRE PLOTS AND FOR
CONTROL OVER THE PRISON ILLEGAL DRUG MARKET. AND WHEN THINGS GOT TOO HOT FOR
PRISON GUARDS TO HANDLE, THEY HAD TO MURDER INMATE VALDEZ TO SILENCE HIM
FROM EXPOSING THEIR ILLEGAL DRUG RACKET AND UNLAWFUL ACTIONS. THIS
INFORMATION IS BEING KEPT FROM THE PUBLIC AND A FALSE SMOKE SCREEN HAS BEEN
SET UP TO HIDE THE TRUE FACTS OF WHY INMATE VALDEZ WAS MURDERED BY PRISON
GUARDS. IT IS BEING FALSELY PROJECTED THAT INMATE VALDEZ WAS A MAD MAN WHO
ATTACKED FELLOW PRISONERS OUT OF ANGER AND HATRED. HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT THE
CASE. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS INMATE VALDEZ ATTACKED FELLOW PRISONERS
UNDER THE ORDERS, INSTRUCTIONS AND WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF PRISON GUARDS.
INMATE ROBINSON WAS ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF PRISON GUARDS HIRING OF INMATE
VALDEZ IN A MURDER FOR HIRE PLOT. PRISON GUARDS OPENED THE CELL DOORS OF
INMATES ROBINSON AND VALDEZ AND GAVE INMATE VALDEZ A SHANK (HOMEMADE PRISON
KNIFE) AN A PAIR OF HANDCUFFS (TO USE AS BRASSKNUCKLES) IN AN ATTEMPT TO
MURDER INMATE ROBINSON DUE TO INMATE ROBINSON'S PRISON GRIEVANCE FILINGS,
JAILHOUSE LAWYER WORK AND LAW SUITS. (ALL FILED TRUTHFULLY AND IN GOOD
FAITH), EXPOSING AND COMPLAINING OF PRISON GUARDS CORRUPTION AND INHUMANE
TREATMENT OF DEATH ROW PRISONERS. DURING THE ATTEMPTED MURDER UPON INMATE
ROBINSON BY INMATE VALDEZ AS ORDERED BY PRISON GUARDS, INMATE ROBINSON WAS
STABBED 24 TIMES AND PUNCHED 4 TIMES AS PRISON GUARDS STOOD BY AND WATCHED.
INMATE ROBINSON FILED SUIT AGAINST PRISON GUARDS FOR SETTING UP THE
ATTEMPTED MURDER AND FOR PROVIDING INMATE VALDEZ WITH A SHANK AND
BRASSKNUCKLES (STATE ISSUED HANDCUFFS) TO ATTACK INMATE ROBINSON WITH, CASE
NO. TIMOTHY A. ROBINSON -V-DONALD w. BEEMAN, EX. AL. 3.99-C.V.-944J-20A.
BECAUSE INMATE ROBINSON HAS DARED TO FIGHT BACK BY FILING SUIT, A $600 COURT
COST LIEU HAS BEEN PLACED UPON HIM INCLUDING ANOTHER $450 XEROXING COST
LITIGATING THE SUIT.INMATE ROBINSON HAS BEEN DENIED THE APPOINTMENT OF
COUNSEL, HE HAS BEEN HINDERED LAW LIBRARY ACCESS. A LARGE PORTION OF HIS
LEGAL BOOKS AND LEGAL MATERIALS HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY DESTROYED BY PRISON
GUARDS. HE HAS SPENT THE PAST 9 MONTHS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT AND WRITTEN A
SLEW OF FABRICATED D.R.S (DISCIPLINARY REPORTS).HE HAS BEEN DENIED VISITS
FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. HE HAS SPENT 50 PLUS DAYS IN A STRIP CELL. HIS PERSONAL
PROPERTY HAS BEEN STOLEN AND/OR DELIBERATELY DESTROYED BY PRISON GUARDS, AND
HE HAS BEEN THREATENED AND HARRASSED ON A DAILY BASIS ALL DUE TO HIS LAW
SUITS AND JAILHOUSE LAWYER'S WORK AND HIS REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THE MADNESS OF
THE GOOD-OLE-BOY SYSTEM.
INMATE ROBINSON NEEDS YOUR HELP TO FIGHT THIS CASE. IT IS APPARENT THAT THE
PRISON GUARDS, WHOUSED AND THEN MURDERED INMATE VALDEZ, ARE GOING TO GET
AWAY WITH MURDER, BUT WE CAN'T SIT BY QUIETLY AND LET IT HAPPEN, NOR CAN WE
ALLOW THEM TO GET AWAY WITH WHAT THEY HAVE DONE AND ARE DOING TO INMATE
ROBINSON. MR ROBINSON IS CALLING ON DEATH ROW ABOLITIONISTS, PEOPLE OF LOVE
AND MERCY, PEOPLE OF ALL RELIGION, AND PEOPLE WHO ARE SIMPLY FED UP WITH THE
HATEFUL, UGLY AND INHUMANE TREATMENT OF PRISONERS, TO HELP HIM IN HIS FIGHT
TO HAVE THOSE PRISON GUARDS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPTED MURDER AGAINST
HIM, STAND ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR VICIOUS ACTIONS. INMATE ROBINSON NEEDS
DONATIONS AND STAMPS (FOR MAILING LEGAL DOCUMENTS AND SEARCHING FOR HELP),
MONEY (TO PAY OFF THE $1050 DEBT HE HAS INCURRED DUE TO FIGHTING
BACK-FILIING SUIT), LEGAL ASSISTANCE ( A LAWYER TO HANDLE THE SUIT IF
POSSIBLE), EXPOSURE OF THE ATTEMPTED MURDER UPON HIM VIA NEWS AND MAGAZINE
ARTICLES, AND ANY AND ALL HELP APPROPRIATE AND NECESSARY TO WIN THE SUIT
AGAINST PRISON CORRUPTION.

IT IS TIME TO FIGHT AND FIGHT HARD! TOGETHER WE CAN SEND A MESSAGE TO PRISON
OFFICIALS AROUND THE WORLD. NO MORE HATEFUL AND INHUMANE TREATMENT OF
PRISONERS! IF A PERSON HAS TO BE CAGED LIKE AN ANIMAL, DO IT AS HUMANELY,
SANITARIUM, AND RESPECTFULLY AS POSSIBLE!. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, PATIENCE
AND ASSISTANCE!"

*********************************************************************************************************************

I have chosen the topic of friendship on Death Row to share with you this
time. I have always strove to achieve the goal of allowing the public to see
the Death Row that me and my brothers' here see. Instead of the contrary
version the media would have one believe exists. If you listened to them you
would think we're always trying to hurt one another, having intercourse with
each other, or just sitting back eating good - - watching HBO. When in
reality, this isn't the case. Most men on death row are studying law to find
a way to save their lives or prove their innocence, or either making their
personal mends with God in preparation for what lay ahead.

Some men here talk from cell to cell, but a large percentage you never even
hear a peep from. As far as the food is concerned; the last five days we've
received sack lunches:

Breakfast: two small prunes, a pancake-peanut butter sandwich, milk
and 1-oz cereal;

Lunch: a pancake-tuna sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich on a hot dog
bun, and two prunes for desert; and

Dinner: a pancake-peanut butter sandwich, two prunes, and tuna in a
hot dog bun.

These people are fascinated with pancakes if you ask me. I personally don't
want to see another pancake, and I'm sure you don't want to hear about
another anytime soon. Also, when they hand over the bag, it leaves grease in
the palm of your hand. The grease smells like pork chops, fish and only God
knows what else. If you're wondering where the grease is coming from - it's
the pancakes! :o)

When guys lay back talking, they reflect back on their good ole' days. We
laugh, kid each other, but most of all - a nice amount of us are there for
one another. Regardless of who it is, whether it be bad news from home or
from the courts, the majority is there for one another. And I'm speaking of
human-beings from many different backgrounds, beliefs and nationalities,
finding a way to come together. To sit around waiting for someone to kill
you drives one to keep searching until something is found of mutual interest.

Friendship is something I learned the true meaning of since I've been on
Death Row. I have cried and broken down like a child, when I've been forced
to watch men that I had bonded with, be carried away and murdered in the name
of "Justice."

When I first arrived here, I just knew I would be so alone and isolated until
the day my number appeared on their screens for my execution. However,
overall I've received a friendly love from the men around me. I've also
found a sincere friendship from many anti-death penalty organizations that
reaches out to men in my position.

Every man don't carry the desire to live anymore. Some see no visual reason.

There's men on Death Row whom never received a letter or visit from friends
or family. Most can't even afford the basic necessities in here. Truth be
told, the State don't give out clean underwear or socks everyday. And "Joe
Public" out there seem to think that everything we need is provided for us:
which is simply not true. Sure they give away free soap, but unfortunately
it's not soap that lathers or actually cleans skin. Toothpaste is provided,
oops, the name of it is toothpowder and if you have high blood pressure
you're in serious trouble, because of the salt in it. If you didn't have a
problem with high blood pressure, once you get behind these walls, the diet
they put on you will give it, along with many other problems you never knew
existed.

Let's face it, after a while there isn't too many people that would be
interested in living like this day after day. Friendship, that's where the
drive and purpose begins. Some people simply need to feel that there is
someone that care about them in the world. Someone that isn't solely
concerned with the circumstances that may have brought them to their current
position. But someone that's interested in knowing who it is they're
speaking with today - in the present. Yeah you have it, I'm asking you to
reach out to someone on Death Row, that is if you don't already write
someone.

I don't know how much longer I'll be with you here on Earth. The federal
courts recently turned down my federal habeas writ, and when they turn a man
down, he's certainly on the downside of the fight. I don't know exactly know
how many days or months I have left, but they definitely aren't many to count
at this point. I've decided that I must focus on the final things I would
like to do in this world, and just leave it at that. In my opinion there's
no use in me crying over spilt milk. One thing I know that is important to
me personally; and that's sharing whatever I can about Death Row to the
public. So that I can maybe offer someone some sincere insight on the
matter. It still urks me to this day, when I pick up the newspaper and see
some politician bragging about my suitable living conditions, the edible food
I'm served and the competent court appointed counsel given to me. It just
don't work that way. True enough that's how it's being publicized and sold,
but it's just not happening. That's why many of us have decided to share
what we experience with you, and just keep hoping and praying for a change
someday. Even if it's not for us directly, we just hope to be a part of
making that change someday!

If you would like to hear more from Jefferey Doughtie his information is as
follows:

Jeffrey C. Doughtie
Terrell #999106
12002 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351

***********************************************************************************************

From: Jack Danford (jackdanford@aol.com)
Date: March 22, 2001

Pat Teer had a son who was killed by Billy G. Hughes.
Hughes was, in turn, killed by the state of Texas last year.

Teer went to the Texas lawmakers and asked that they list his
killing as ''legal execution'' rather than a ''homicide''.

But wait ! Isn't the death of the murderer supposed
to bring ''solace and closure'', the two favorite words of
the media people who advocate killing ?

I am confused. If the murder of the murderer is supposed to
bring solace, closure, joy, to the victims, why is Teer
still upset?

Someday, when newspaper editors grow up all over the USA,
they are going to explain the process of grief to the morons
who read the daily dribble that newspaper editors vomit on
the public psyche.

When a loved one dies, the pain and loss don't go away, it
scabs over, in time, and people go on with their lives.
That's reality, that's the way it works.

But Amewrican newspaper editors want the American sheeple
to believe that with the death of the bad guy, comes ''solace
and closure, the beginning of a new life, pain free,
innocence returned''.

Pat Teer may get her way, the murder of Billy G Hughes might
be called a ''legal execution'' but a rose is a rose no matter
what you call it, and murder is murder no matter who does it.

It does not matter if Pat Teer jumps up and down on the grave
of Billy G Hughes, burns the ground for miles around, blows up
the whole graveyard, she is not going to find the ''solace and closure''
that the American media has promised her.

The American media promises something that is not theirs to
give. The only person who can give solace and closure to
Pet Teer is Pat Teer.

Jackdanford@aol.com
http://www.common-sense-newspaper.net

.....................
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Reiner Stensgaard Goldau
Ydbyvej 184
DK	7760	Hurup Thy
Denmark
+45-97-407628
goldau@adslhome.dk

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