Post by CCADP on Apr 5, 2006 20:13:17 GMT -5
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
06 April 2006
UA 77/06 Death Penalty
USA (North Carolina) Willie Brown (m)
Willie Brown, aged 61, black, is scheduled to be
executed on 21 April. He was sentenced to death in
1983 for the fatal shooting of a woman, Vallerie Ann
Roberson Dixon, during the robbery of a shop where she
was working. Brown reportedly has a documented history
of mental illness, which the jurors who sentenced him
to death did not know about.
Brown's current attorneys have described how he
received poor legal representation at trial from
attorneys who had never worked on a death penalty case
before, who failed to present important mitigating
evidence to the jury which sentenced him to death, or
to contact family members and friends who were willing
to testify on his behalf. This included Brown's
documented history of serious mental illness, and the
fact that he had been beaten by his father as a child.
State records reportedly reveal that before the crime
Brown had been diagnosed several times with mental
illness including paranoid and delusional disorders,
for which he never received any treatment.
The jury at Brown's trial were instructed that they
had to agree unanimously on any mitigating
circumstances they were to find. Presented with
several mitigating circumstances, though not the
information concerning his record of mental illness or
that he had been beaten as a child by his father, they
found none. In 1988, the US Supreme Court reversed a
death sentence in Maryland on the grounds that the
sentencing jury had been bound by a similar
instruction; in 1990 it ruled, in another death
penalty case, that North Carolina's jury unanimity
requirement was unconstitutional. Following these
rulings, Brown tried to raise the issue in appeals in
his case, but was unsuccessful. Since then, other
prisoners on death row in North Carolina have
reportedly had their death sentences reversed after
appeals based on these Supreme Court rulings.
According to his present attorneys, Brown is the only
prisoner under sentence of death in North Carolina to
face execution despite the fact that his jury received
instructions that were later found unconstitutional,
and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded
that the state's refusal to hear Brown's claim was
unjust compared to these other cases.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
There is strong support for a moratorium on executions
in North Carolina because of concerns about the
fairness and reliability of the death penalty. Almost
1,100 resolutions calling for a moratorium have been
passed by town councils, private businesses, church
congregations and religious organizations, political
parties and student and community groups. Many North
Carolina newspapers have carried editorials in favour
of a moratorium on executions.
Attempts are underway by the North Carolina Coalition
for a Moratorium (which includes Amnesty
International) to encourage legislators to pass a
moratorium bill during the legislative session
beginning in May. The House of Representatives Select
Committee on Capital Punishment, which is currently
undertaking a legislative study of the death penalty,
has met three times since the last legislative session
ended in October 2005, and are preparing their report
and recommendations. The Committee's report will be
used by the Coalition in the months ahead to propose
further death penalty reforms that will narrow the
application of the death penalty and move legislators
towards a moratorium.
Since 1977, when the USA resumed judicial killing, the
US Supreme Court has provided some constitutional
protections for mentally impaired people facing the
death penalty. In 1986, in Ford v. Wainwright, the
court ruled that the execution of people who are
insane violates the US Constitution's prohibition on
"cruel and unusual punishments". A decision by the
Supreme Court in 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia) prohibited
the death penalty for people with mental retardation,
reasoning that mental retardation diminishes personal
culpability, and renders the death penalty difficult
to justify on deterrence and retribution grounds.
On March 1 2005, citing the "overwhelming weight of
international opinpinion" and "evolving standards of
decency" the Supreme Court, in Roper v. Simmons,
finally outlawed the death penalty for offenders who
were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime.
The Roper majority quoted the Atkins decision:
"Capital punishment must be limited to those offenders
who commit a narrow category of the most serious
crimes and whose extreme culpability makes them the
most deserving of execution".
Today, 122 countries are abolitionist in law or
practice, and there are strict international
safeguards applying to those countries which have not
yet abolished the death penalty. For example, the
United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of
the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty prohibit
the execution of "persons who have become insane". The
UN Commission on Human Rights has repeatedly called on
those countries which still retain the death penalty
not to use it against anyone suffering from a mental
disorder.
Amnesty International does not seek to excuse the
perpetrators of violent crime. However, it opposes the
death penalty in all cases. Amnesty International
believes that there is a profound inconsistency in
exempting people with mental retardation from the
death penalty while those with serious mental illness
remain exposed to it. Similarly, exempting juvenile
offenders from the death penalty because of their
diminished culpability is incongruous with executing
those suffering from serious mental illness or
impairment other than retardation.
For further information on mentally ill offenders
under sentence of death in the USA see AI's recent
report: USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders
(AMR 51/003/2006, January 2006).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:
- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of
Vallerie Anne Roberson Dixon, explaining that you are
not seeking to condone the manner of her death or to
minimize the suffering caused;
- expressing concern at reports that Willie Brown
received poor legal representation at trial and that
his trial attorneys failed to present mitigating
evidence to the jury that sentenced him to death,
including his well-documented record of serious mental
illness and abuse at the hands of his father;
- calling on the governor to commute Willie Brown's
death sentence.
APPEALS TO:
Governor Michael F. Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Fax: 1 919 715 3175
1 919 733 2120
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots
movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact,
including contact information and stop action date (if
applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
06 April 2006
UA 77/06 Death Penalty
USA (North Carolina) Willie Brown (m)
Willie Brown, aged 61, black, is scheduled to be
executed on 21 April. He was sentenced to death in
1983 for the fatal shooting of a woman, Vallerie Ann
Roberson Dixon, during the robbery of a shop where she
was working. Brown reportedly has a documented history
of mental illness, which the jurors who sentenced him
to death did not know about.
Brown's current attorneys have described how he
received poor legal representation at trial from
attorneys who had never worked on a death penalty case
before, who failed to present important mitigating
evidence to the jury which sentenced him to death, or
to contact family members and friends who were willing
to testify on his behalf. This included Brown's
documented history of serious mental illness, and the
fact that he had been beaten by his father as a child.
State records reportedly reveal that before the crime
Brown had been diagnosed several times with mental
illness including paranoid and delusional disorders,
for which he never received any treatment.
The jury at Brown's trial were instructed that they
had to agree unanimously on any mitigating
circumstances they were to find. Presented with
several mitigating circumstances, though not the
information concerning his record of mental illness or
that he had been beaten as a child by his father, they
found none. In 1988, the US Supreme Court reversed a
death sentence in Maryland on the grounds that the
sentencing jury had been bound by a similar
instruction; in 1990 it ruled, in another death
penalty case, that North Carolina's jury unanimity
requirement was unconstitutional. Following these
rulings, Brown tried to raise the issue in appeals in
his case, but was unsuccessful. Since then, other
prisoners on death row in North Carolina have
reportedly had their death sentences reversed after
appeals based on these Supreme Court rulings.
According to his present attorneys, Brown is the only
prisoner under sentence of death in North Carolina to
face execution despite the fact that his jury received
instructions that were later found unconstitutional,
and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded
that the state's refusal to hear Brown's claim was
unjust compared to these other cases.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
There is strong support for a moratorium on executions
in North Carolina because of concerns about the
fairness and reliability of the death penalty. Almost
1,100 resolutions calling for a moratorium have been
passed by town councils, private businesses, church
congregations and religious organizations, political
parties and student and community groups. Many North
Carolina newspapers have carried editorials in favour
of a moratorium on executions.
Attempts are underway by the North Carolina Coalition
for a Moratorium (which includes Amnesty
International) to encourage legislators to pass a
moratorium bill during the legislative session
beginning in May. The House of Representatives Select
Committee on Capital Punishment, which is currently
undertaking a legislative study of the death penalty,
has met three times since the last legislative session
ended in October 2005, and are preparing their report
and recommendations. The Committee's report will be
used by the Coalition in the months ahead to propose
further death penalty reforms that will narrow the
application of the death penalty and move legislators
towards a moratorium.
Since 1977, when the USA resumed judicial killing, the
US Supreme Court has provided some constitutional
protections for mentally impaired people facing the
death penalty. In 1986, in Ford v. Wainwright, the
court ruled that the execution of people who are
insane violates the US Constitution's prohibition on
"cruel and unusual punishments". A decision by the
Supreme Court in 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia) prohibited
the death penalty for people with mental retardation,
reasoning that mental retardation diminishes personal
culpability, and renders the death penalty difficult
to justify on deterrence and retribution grounds.
On March 1 2005, citing the "overwhelming weight of
international opinpinion" and "evolving standards of
decency" the Supreme Court, in Roper v. Simmons,
finally outlawed the death penalty for offenders who
were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime.
The Roper majority quoted the Atkins decision:
"Capital punishment must be limited to those offenders
who commit a narrow category of the most serious
crimes and whose extreme culpability makes them the
most deserving of execution".
Today, 122 countries are abolitionist in law or
practice, and there are strict international
safeguards applying to those countries which have not
yet abolished the death penalty. For example, the
United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of
the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty prohibit
the execution of "persons who have become insane". The
UN Commission on Human Rights has repeatedly called on
those countries which still retain the death penalty
not to use it against anyone suffering from a mental
disorder.
Amnesty International does not seek to excuse the
perpetrators of violent crime. However, it opposes the
death penalty in all cases. Amnesty International
believes that there is a profound inconsistency in
exempting people with mental retardation from the
death penalty while those with serious mental illness
remain exposed to it. Similarly, exempting juvenile
offenders from the death penalty because of their
diminished culpability is incongruous with executing
those suffering from serious mental illness or
impairment other than retardation.
For further information on mentally ill offenders
under sentence of death in the USA see AI's recent
report: USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders
(AMR 51/003/2006, January 2006).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:
- expressing sympathy for the family and friends of
Vallerie Anne Roberson Dixon, explaining that you are
not seeking to condone the manner of her death or to
minimize the suffering caused;
- expressing concern at reports that Willie Brown
received poor legal representation at trial and that
his trial attorneys failed to present mitigating
evidence to the jury that sentenced him to death,
including his well-documented record of serious mental
illness and abuse at the hands of his father;
- calling on the governor to commute Willie Brown's
death sentence.
APPEALS TO:
Governor Michael F. Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Fax: 1 919 715 3175
1 919 733 2120
Salutation: Dear Governor
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots
movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact,
including contact information and stop action date (if
applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------