Life without Parole Option cancelled

The bill that would give Texas juries the option to choose life without parole over death died due in part to large countries such as Harris County, Bexar County, and Dallas County’s strict opposal. Their stand on the matter is that it would per say... "confuse" the juries. Before I go any further let me show you the options 

1.      Death by Lethal Injection

2.      Life "with parole" - 40 calendar years

3.      Life "without parole"

Where confusion comes into play, I have no earthly idea, but even if it did in fact confuse a jury member, that said jury member should be excused from the panel because he or she shouldn't be involved in any matter concerning life or death... especially if they can't comprend basic logic of choosing one of the above three option's.

Its not confusing, but a blatant lie by big city prosecutors who seek the death penalty at alarming rates. To have the 3rd option, would drastically reduce the number of death sentences obtained by overzealous prosecutors. People on jury panels are more likely to put a person away with the Life without parole option than to choose death. Prosecutors know this and that’s why larger countries fight so hard to prevent lawmakers from enacting this statute. Smaller countries can’t handle the financial burden a capital murder trial brings upon its taxpaying citizens, whereas larger countries are endowed with large budges annually. Such as Harris Country-Houston, Texas, which has an annual $ 30 Million dollar per year, budget for the Prosecutors office. I guess it’s easy to understand why they're the death penalty leader of the U.S.A... They can afford to pursue every death penalty case, where as smaller countries have to pick and choose, but mainly option to plead the case out and spare taxpayers any expenses.

This manipulation is just another example that certain individuals feel the need to exert their power by maliciously seeking the death penalty in all cases without examining other options. Such closed mindedness is the very reason Texas Justice is set back in a time of 40 years ago.

Farley C. Matchett  

Discrimination in Death Penalty Application

Death penalty opponents have long complained that the minorities facing a capital murder charge are more likely to be executed than white defendants convicted and charged with a similar crime. A more comprehensive up to date study, reveals a troubling difference between black and white defendants charged with capital murder, that in essence is the determining factor in who lives and who dies... all based on the skin colour of the defendant.

Black people and white people in the U.S.A. are both murdered roughly on an even level, but alarming numbers suggests that a black person charged with killing a white person is 6 times likely to be sentenced to death, than a white person charged with the identical crime.

Of all the people executed in America, since it resumed its use of capital punishment in the mid -1970's, 80% percent of the black defendants were executed for killing white people; white only 13% percent were executed for killing blacks.  

In 1972, the United States Supreme Court banned the death penalty because their conclusion was that the death penalty was being imposed in an arbitrarily manner against minorities. The Court allowed this barbaric act to resume in 1976 under a ruling that would give the trial judges guidance and juries a way to hand out death sentences even handed.

Very little has changed since then and skin colour is still the determining factor in deciding who lives and who dies... some twenty seven years later. This is concrete evidence that our system violates the U.S. constitution's 14th amendment that guarantee's "equal protection" under the law. It also shows the blatant corruption of our racist system. This is unequal justice and alternative solutions readily lie at the hands of key law makers, but apparently they're not interested in racial equality within our judicial system. The K.K.K. wears hoods and sheets to hide their identity... and you know exactly "who" they are and exactly what they believe in and stand for. With American and Texas politicians you really don't know until it’s too late, because they always greet you with a phony smile and friendly handshake .

Farley Matchett  

Blindsided Justice

The Texas Legislators met this year beginning in January 2003 and convened to consider over 1,000 various bills into law. Quite a few of them dealt with the Texas death penalty.

After much media publicity, of the numerous flaws within our death penalty, lawmakers began to take fictious political arms with promises of reform. This was really bolstered by 3 Texas Criminal Appeals Judges who boldly stepped out into public and stated that Texas death row inmate Leonard Rojas should not have been executed on December 4, 2002 because he had an attorney appointed by the Court of Criminal Appeals, which these 3 Appeals Judges are apart of, who was grossly incompetent.

Lawmakers scrambled to show that they wanted to correct this. Thus began the life of Senate Bill #1224. It was designed to give any death row inmate opportunity to go back and correct his or her State habeas attorney's mistakes. Along the way some lawmakers argued that it should just begin September 1, 2003 and go forward, but to do such would defeat the purpose of Senate bill 1224. Some lawmakers argued that    "retroactive" had to be in the bill as its a stipulation that would allow some 200 death row inmates to correct the mistake created by these very same legislative lawmakers.

In 1995 Texas lawmakers revised the State habeas Statutes of article 11:071 and in the revision, it stated that all death row inmates who present a petition on State Habeas, will be allow "one" very good opportunity to bring forth any and all legal claims. It also stated that Texas will provide d/row inmates "quality and competent" attorneys who have no less than 5 years experience in appellate litigation. The lawmakers then set aside $10million dollars and gave control of the money and lawyer appointment to the Court of Crimininal Appeals... who proceed to bungle this entire episode into a legal nightmare of pure chaos. They began to try to give these so-called competent lawyers $ 7,500. -- Dollars for an entire habeas proceeding, which is an insult, and lawyers refused the cases. Those who did take the cases did so with no intentious of doing a good job. That gives credibility to the cliché... "You get exactly what you pay for." The only problem is, that we death row inmates are the ones who had to suffer at the hands of idiot lawyers who's only interest was money, not justice.

Cases were legally abused so badly that Federal Judges were sending them back to the state appeals courts for legal corrections. This is where the Court of Criminal Appeals under headed action came to light, but rather than correct the legal atrocity that they themselves created, they used a statute within article 11:071 called the "abuse of write doctrine". By using that when the Federal Judges sent the case back for corrections, they "legally tied" the Federal Judges hands and the case then becomes procedurally barred from the Federal review. Remember... the New Statute of article 11:071 said "one" opportunity. Anything there and beyond is being how Leonard Rojas was executed without a Federal Review, but he wasn't the only one... Napoleon Beazeley, Johnny J. Martinez and so many others. This is a blatant violation of due process of the law, which is guaranteed by the United States Constitution. What the Court of Criminal Appeals was doing was in essence... Killing death row inmates to cover up for their own corruption and misappropriation of government funds... until 3 of their colleagues boldly spoke out that they're wrong in what they're doing.

Then lawmakers brought 1224 into life to correct the faulty parts of the Statute so as death row inmates could correct the legal mistakes made by their appointed lawyers. They also removed the court of appeals from appointing lawyers and gave that responsibility back to Trail Court Judges.... mainly because the court of Criminal Appeals I had appointed a lawyer who had died. The inmates appeal was not filed in time and thus it became procedurally barred.

As bill #1224 came near being a law, the Attorney Generals office stepped in at the last minute on the last day and told lawmakers that "if" they made 1224 "retroactive", then Texas would be entangled in years of lengthy and costly litigation. Lawmaker’s minds seemed to go blank and they let bill #1224 die... like so-many men will under this faulty statute. Its sad that Texas revels in "money" over life, liberty and justice... after all, those are the famous words Texas politicians often invoke, but I see that nothing more than a group of men and women who are either too cowardly to stand up and admit fault... or just too stupid to comprehend the consequences of their actions. Whatever it may be, Texas had an opportunity to clean up an atrocity that they Knowingly are aware of, but by not doing so, it really casts an unfavourable eye upon them... then too, the world hasn't really looked at Texas too favorable since the death penalty was reinstated and the first execution in Texas too place.

Farley C. Matchett