[O29] FRANCES NEWTON: 4 DAYS TO STOP THE EXECUTION! ACT NOW!

[Peter Cook]

 FREE Frances Newton! She is Innocent!
<http://www.freefrances.org/images/buttons/topbanner.jpg> 


EMERGENCY: 4 DAYS LEFT  TO 
STOP THE TEXAS EXECUTION OF 
FRANCES NEWTON 
ON SEPTEMBER 14! 



JOIN WITH FORMER ATTY. GEN. RAMSEY CLARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN BAR ASSN. AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
SEND A FINAL APPEAL TO DEMAND THE EXECUTION BE STOPPED!

FRANCES IS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN 
SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED BY TEXAS IN MODERN HISTORY. 



NEW EVIDENCE AFFIRMS HER INNOCENCE.


Go to
 <BLOCKED::http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml>
http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml
for an updated urgent letter to be sent in your name. you  will be
able to review and modify the text to put in your own final appeal for
Frances, even if you have already sent the original letter. (The
updated appeal letter text appears HERE <BLOCKED::#LetterText>  lower
down in this message).

4 days remain before the scheduled execution of Frances Newton, an
innocent African American woman, by the state of Texas. Thousands of
people have taken up the appeal, sending over 200,000 email messages
and thousands of letters and postcards and faxes and phone calls to
Texas Governor Rick Perry, President Bush, legislators and the Texas
Board of Pardons and Paroles urging the execution be stopped. WE MUST
INTENSIFY THE PRESSURE!

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has written to the President, the
Governor and the Pardon Board. Here is what he wrote:

"Every element of law, morality, human dignity and reverence for life
compel commutation of the death sentence of Frances Newton scheduled
to be executed in Texas on September 14, 2005. 

Evidence not presented at trial, but now known to have existed, would
have caused an acquittal. Her trial attorney was not competent and can
no longer appear in death cases, but too late for her. A person of
financial means would never have been convicted and probably never
even tried in such a case. 

At 22, Frances Newton lost her husband and two children and, most
cruelly, has been condemned as their murderer. Her mother and
father-in-law, the parents of her dead husband and grandparents of her
dead children, could have testified in her behalf at her trial, but no
one called them. They pray everyday that her life be spared. 

Frances Newton, a poor African-American woman unable to defend
herself, who lost her family to violent death, has now spent seventeen
years in prison on a conviction unsupportable in law and fact. 
Surely if there was ever time, now in the wake of Katrina with its
devastating exposure of the fate of poor Americans caught in calamity,
American officials can find the understanding, courage and compassion
to commute this damnable death sentence. I ask you to use all your
authority and persuasion to see that happens. 

Sincerely, 
Ramsey Clark"

And Michael Greco, President of the American Bar Association, wrote in
part:

"..significant and and compelling new evidence .. has not yet been
evaluated by the Texas courts. .. This evidence was not discovered
earlier because of the negligence of her appointed lawyer.. He did no
investigation whatsoever, and therefore, did not place before the jury
the evidence that now casts doubt on Ms. Newton's involvement in this
crime. .. We believe that carrying out the execution of Frances Newton
without a full review of this new evidence is inconsistent with
principles of fundamental fairness and due process. Because reasonable
doubt exists, we urge you to vacate her execution date so that the
newly discovered evidence can be tested and properly evaluated by
Texas courts."

Please join the online campaign to STOP THE EXECUTION OF FRANCES
NEWTON!
YOUR EMERGENCY FINAL URGENT APPEAL IS NEEDED NOW! 
Send emails to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg
Abbott, President Bush, Congressional leaders and Senators and
Representatives from Texas and the Texas State Legislature, the Mayor
of Houston and Houston City Councilors, The Texas Board of Pardons and
Paroles, U.N. Secy General Kofi Anan and your senators and
representative, DEMANDING that Frances' execution be stopped
IMMEDIATELY!

If you have already sent an email, do it again! The letter (see below)
has been updated to refer to the two letters just mentioned, and you
can modify it to put in your personal appeal with all the urgency
required by the execution date this Wednesday.

Go to
 <BLOCKED::http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml>
http://www.iacenter.org/francesnewtoncampaign.shtml
for the following letter to be sent in your name: 

Sample Text (you will be able to edit it on the website):
........................................................
Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott, President Bush, Senators and
Representatives, Houston Mayor White, Houston City Councilors, and
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles: 

IN A MATTER OF DAYS, on September 14, 2005, Frances Newton, AN
INNOCENT WOMAN, is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas. If
the jury had known the facts that are presently known, they would not
have found Frances guilty nor given her the death sentence. The
dubious motive, unrealistic timeline, the police's refusal to follow
important leads, and most of all, her incompetent counsel, all point
to the compelling evidence that proves Frances Newton is innocent. 

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has written to President Bush and
Goveror Perry that "evidence not presented at trial, but now known to
have existed, would have caused an acquittal." And Michael Greco,
President of the American Bar Association, also wrote to the
President, Governor and Pardons Board that because "significant and
compelling new evidence has not yet been evaluated by Texas courts, we
urge you to vacate her execution date."  She has been on death row for
18 years, and you have already granted her a 120-day stay. But on the
basis of new evidence, Frances needs to finally have her day in court.
We plead to you in good conscience to ACT IMMEDIATELY TO STOP THE
EXECUTION OF FRANCES NEWTON. 

Sincerely,

-------

For more information and to order DVD's of Frances, go to
http://www.freefrances.org <BLOCKED::http://www.freefrances.org> 


-------

STOP THE EXECUTION OF FRANCES NEWTON CAMPAIGN
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
1-212-633-6646
email: francesnewtoncampaign at iacenter.org
<BLOCKED::mailto:francesnewtoncampaign at iacenter.org> 
http://www.iacenter.org <BLOCKED::http://www.iacenter.org> 

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