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Arnold: Block Cooper Execution
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Progressive Portal
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Feb 03, 2004 14:35 PST
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ASK SCHWARZENEGGER TO STAY EXECUTION OF KEVIN COOPER
WHILE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVIDENCE ARE INVESTIGATED
[From the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
<http://capwiz.com/ncadp/home/>]
Kevin Cooper, a 46-year-old African-American, is scheduled to be
executed on 10 February 2004, even though important questions about the
case have never been resolved and some exculpatory evidence was never
presented to the jury.
Cooper has been on death row in California for 20 years for a brutal
1983 murder. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denied his petition for clemency
on the grounds that "evidence establishing his guilt is overwhelming."
Yet Cooper has steadfastly maintained his innocence, and his attorneys
and supporters have raised issues that should give pause even to
supporters of the death penalty:
* In the aftermath of the killings, an 8-year-old boy who was wounded
but survived stated repeatedly that the attackers were three white or
Latino men. The prosecutors admit that three separate weapons were used
in the killings.
* Clumps of long blond hair were found in the hands of one of the
victims. Photographs of the hair, which clearly does not belong to
Cooper, were never shown to the jury, and the prosecution has never
allowed DNA testing to determine whose hair it was.
* A woman who lived near the site of the murders went to the police
shortly afterwards to report that her boyfriend had come to her house
around the time of the murder wearing blood-soaked overalls. She turned
in the overalls, but instead of testing them, the police simply tossed
them in a dumpster, and they were destroyed. The woman was never called
to testify in the case.
Even though Schwarzenegger has denied Cooper's clemency petition, tell
the governor he can and should stay the execution while these issues are
fully investigated.
Take Action
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Send a message to Gov. Schwarzenegger at:
http://capwiz.com/ncadp/mail/compose/?state=CA&alertid=4725166&target=GV&type=SW
More Information
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http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=Executions
http://www.savekevincooper.org
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510132004?open&of=ENG-USA
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