Stop Tuesday's execution in Texas!

What more can David Powell do to prove that he does not deserve to die? Stop Tuesday's scheduled execution of David Powell!

Dear Rector, Shortly after 6pm on Tuesday, June 15th, David Powell is scheduled to be killed in a Texas execution chamber for a crime he committed 32 years ago. But 32 years ago, David Powell was a very different person and death penalty trials in Texas were part of a much more rigid system. Texas was the last of the states in the U.S. using the death penalty to adopt life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. And recent evidence suggests that juries are less likely to impose the death penalty when life without parole is available as a sentence. But this sentence only became an option for Texas capital jurors as of September 2005 - six years too late for David Powell, after his final sentencing. In fact, one former juror suggested that if life without parole had been an option at the time, then several jurors would have chosen that option for Powell rather than the death penalty. The juror went on to state "I know I would have chosen life without parole as the appropriate punishment." Call on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to halt David Powell's execution and commute his sentence. Texas has, by far, the highest number of executions in the U.S. - last year, the state was responsible for roughly half of all U.S. executions, and ranked 7th in the world. If the board were to commute Powell's sentence, it would be a major victory indeed. But because Powell continues to show deep remorse for his crime and has an incredible range of people in his corner who attest to his remarkable development over the years, the board may look on this case favorably. Powell was 27 years old when he was first committed to Texas' death row for the killing of Austin Police Officer Ralph Ablanedo. If Powell, now 59 years old, were executed, then as another Austin police officer sees it:   the man who [would] be put to death...is not the man who committed the crime. This David Powell is an elderly man who has shown what I believe to be true understanding and remorse for his crime. This is a man who, in my feeble view, would not be any type of menace to society today and is not, in even any small way, the guy who killed that cop 32 years ago.   Additionally, Dr. Seth Silverman, a psychiatrist who evaluated Powell, has seen positive contributions unparalleled to any other prisoners with whom he has had contact. These testimonies1 call into question one of the most basic problems with the death penalty - it does not allow for the fact that people can change and improve. In fact, it cancels out the very possibility of human redemption. Capital punishment is based on a depressing philosophy that bad people (or people who do bad things) will always be bad. But your action on behalf of David Powell can help turn this around. Achieving clemency in Texas, for a case like this, will not only save the life of David Powell, but will increase the chances that other truly remorseful prisoners may successfully argue that they do not deserve to die. Please hurry - send a message to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Tell them that people can change and now it's time for Texas to follow suit. Thank you for your support. Brian Evans Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Amnesty International USA  Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter 1. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/048/2010/en/ec5f15ff-d677-4953-a120-46df0f78549d/amr510482010en.pdf