More Focus on the Kenneth Foster Case

If the death penalty is meant to be reserved for the worst of the worst, it's clear that Kenneth Foster should not be facing execution on August 30.  The Nation has, "Kenneth Foster's Fate."

In 2005, a federal district judge found a "fundamental constitutional defect in Foster's sentence" and ruled that Foster's jury had not been asked to determine if he had any intent to kill LaHood, and that this failure represented a misapplication of the law. However, the state of Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the decision.

The crazy thing about this case is that no one argues that Foster killed the victim. As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's award-winning columnist Bob Ray Sanders wrote, the case "is further proof of how cruel, capricious, unjust and utterly insane our death penalty laws have become....Because of this tainted system, whether you believe in capital punishment or not, a man who did not plan or commit a murder will die August 30 unless somebody -- a judge, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and/or the governor-- has the heart and the guts to stop it."

You can help these folks get up the guts at  freekenneth.com. Find updates on the case and urge members of the Texas legislature to stay Foster's execution and ask for a re-trial based on new evidence.

One note - state legislators do not have the power to stay an execution.  Only the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Governor Rick Perry, or the courts can do that.

Houston journalist Renee Feltz has an article in The Indypendent, " Worst of the Worst? Texas Premeditates the Murder of a Man Who Killed No One."

On Aug. 30, Texas plans to execute Kenneth Foster, Jr. for his role in the 1996 murder of Michael La Hood, Jr.. The state admits Foster’s already-executed co-defendant, Mauricio Brown, was the actual killer. But it secured his death sentence based on a conspiracy charge related to the Law of Parties (LOP)—a statute in place nationwide but only applied to capital punishment cases in the state that has sent more than 400 men to death since 1972. On Aug. 7, a Texas court denied Foster’s final appeal. In a June 20 interview, Foster explained the law and how it relates to his case, and his activism with fellow prisoners who refuse to go quietly.

And:

Foster realizes his conviction has a personal impact for the victim’s family as well, saying “I am sorry for what happened to their son, but at the same time, I didn’t kill him.”

La Hood’s former best friend, Sean-Paul Kelley, recently used his platform as a radio host and progressive blogger to speak out against Foster’s execution, arguing “the execution of a young man who didn’t even kill Mike? That’s not justice. It’s senseless vengeance, a barbarism cloaked in the black robes of justice.”

Earlier coverage is here.