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Urge VA Governor To Block Execution
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Progressive Portal
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Jun 28, 2003 13:47 PDT
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INMATE WHO HAD INEFFECTIVE LAWYERS FACES DEATH;
WRITE TO GOVERNOR BEFORE JULY 1 SCHEDULED EXECUTION
[From Amnesty International USA < http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/>]
Virginia, the state that trails only Texas in the number of executions
since use of capital punishment was restored in 1977, plans another one
for 1 July 2003.
Bobby Swisher has been on death row since 1998, after a trial in which
his inexperienced, ill-prepared attorneys failed to point out
inconsistencies in the testimony of a key witness. They also failed to
seek a postponement of the trial or a hearing on the defendant's
competency even though anti-depression medication he began taking just
two days before the proceeding left him so sedated that they decided not
to put him on the stand.
When it came time for closing argument at the sentencing phase of the
trial, the lawyers had not even decided which of them would give the
argument. A lawyer who was just a few years out of law school and
handling his first jury trial then spoke for only seven minutes, almost
half of which was reciting the court's jury instructions.
Take Action
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Write to Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner to urge clemency:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=264139&l=5967
More Information
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Learn more about the case at:
http://www.vadp.org/cases/swisher.htm
(Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)
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