150 people exonerated from U.S. Death Rows - Wishing Death Row Residents Peace Today

Our family in 1965, I lovingly dedicate this song to my family, especially to Kerry Lyn. Merry Christmas Kerry! I love you!

Click on this link to listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IeGQnuqIwI

149 People Have Been Exonerated from Our Own Death Rows

Eye Witness is NO Guarantee 



Former death row inmate Ricky Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman  were formally exonerated on November 21, 2014, in Ohio, after spending 39 years in prison. They are numbers 148 and 149 on the growing list of exonerees from U.S.A. Death Rows.


Article excerpt: When he dismissed Jackson’s case, Judge Richard McMonagle said, “Life is filled with small victories, and this is a big one.”  http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/judge-dismisses-two-men-charged-in-1975-slaying-1.543007

These cases relied heavily on eye-witness identification - the "eye-witness"  recanted just last year...

 Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said in court that without an eyewitness there was not much of a case, he added "The state is conceding the obvious." 


Cleveland attorneys represented both men after the Ohio Innocence Project took up Jackson’s cause even though there was no DNA evidence. 

 Charges will likely be dismissed against the third convicted defendant in this case, Mr. Ajamu , who would then be # 150 of the exonerated.




Follow these links to read more details:

Death Penalty Information Center-

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/5946

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row?scid=6&did=110

November 2014 Visit

Nov. 8, 2014 CCWF . Kerry and Victoria visit in the attorneys' room.

Update: Kerry Lyn looks great doesn't she! 19 1/2 years on CA Death Row and she continues to be the strongest person I know. It's very difficult to stay healthy on prison diet, she stays aware of her needs and works to stay well, we supplement the meals provided with what is available to purchase from approved vendors. Things like vitamins, toothpaste, olive oil, granola, pasta, dehydrated onions, lotion, etc, are staples for her nutrition. We are allowed to order her a box from a vendor once per quarter (every 3 months). She can have up to 30 lbs in the box, so that is limited. 

I am posting some ideas on how any of you can let Kerry know you're thinking of her this season of giving and family time. Please consider sending her a card, some stamps, stationary, or contributing to her "box" (we handle the order since she can only receive one.)

Ways to make Kerry's life a little brighter:

Letter or card - (be sure to hand write Kerry's address and don't forget to write out your return                                 name and address - otherwise the letter will be rejected. No stamps or any other                               writing on the envelopes, only the postage stamp is allowed.)
Kerry Lyn Dalton W42583
504-C1-138
p.o. box 1508
Chowchilla CA, 93610-1508

If you send a postcard- you still must include a return address and a name.


Postage Stamps -  (so she can write you and others) be sure to write in your letter you have                                          enclosed stamps and how many. She can receive up to 40 stamps per envelope.
Stationary -          up to 20 blank post cards per envelope, up to 10 blank greeting cards per                                           envelope, sheets of blank stationary paper. Nothing can be hand made since                                     paint, tape, glue, glitter,etc are not allowed on your mail, but it can be printed                                     copies of your work. 
Photographs -       send her a photo of yourself, your family and friends, a scene of the season,                                       your pet, nature, or other sights you'd like to share. (no Polaroids, or layered                                     pics)

Gifting to her box - send contributions to us, indicate what you'd like it to go for or just to her                                           general needs; email for further details:                                                                                                 FellowshipOfPeaceFoundation@gmail.com   (any amount accepted, every few                                   dollars adds to the gift)     
           We will include your name on the contributors and send you a copy of the invoice.

Items Kerry could use (we'll order for her Box) -
                                     Sweat pants, sweat shirt (usually no heat in her building) 
                                     Cd's (music can be therapeutic!)
                                     Herbs  (she prefers natural remedies to prescription drugs, the facility does                                      not provide homeopathic treatments. Kerry's system does not tolerate                                                synthetic medications well. )
                                     Other healthier food alternatives, toiletries, socks,...

Books -                        a good read is such a blessing!  The book orders must come from a Third                                          party dealer (Amazon is good and usually best prices), must be new, only                                            paper backs allowed.
                             
                              Either send her a book you like or ask her if she has a title in mind.
                                      Some titles on her wish list are:
(GIFTED)                     A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle
(GIFTED)                     The Gift, Ladinsky
(GIFTED)                     The Essential Jung, C.G. Jung / Anthony Storr
                                      Man's Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl
                                      Custer Died For Your Sins, Vine Deloria Jr.
                                      The Red Road To Wellbriety
                                      The Mastery of Love,      Don Ruiz Miguel         
                                      Long Walk to Freedom,      Nelson Mandela
(GIFTED)                     I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,    Maya Angelou
                                              (I'll add more soon.)  
Please let me know if you choose a book from this list so we don't duplicate, thank you.

Or just email me to pass a suggestion on or by me. I look forward to hearing from you and how we can support Kerry Lyn through another Christmas season on Death Row.  FellowshipOfPeaceFoundation@gmail.com

More to post soon.
Blessings and peace to you all from my family, and on behalf of Kerry!!!

CA Death Penalty system takes a lifetime - District Judge rules it unconstitutional

Aug. 2, 2014.
Today's visit was very good! Kerry is strong and has a great heart; even after 19 years on the Row she hasn't given in to despair! We talked about how it will be when she comes home, that made us smile!

Raymond Reyes, Kerry Lyn Dalton, Victoria Thorpe
Visiting Aug. 10, 2014

California's Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional, But The AG Won't Give It Up

SAN FRANCISCO — Aug 21, 2014, 7:20 PM ET

By PAUL ELIAS Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's attorney general said Thursday she will appeal a federal court ruling that called the state's death penalty unconstitutional.

The announcement by Attorney General Kamala Harris came after U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Los Angeles ruled last month that the state's death penalty takes too long to carry out, and that the unpredictable delays are arbitrary and unfair.

Harris, however, said the amount of time it takes to execute an inmate in California ensures inmates receive due process.

Continue reading the entire article here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/21/california-to-appeal-death-penalty_n_5698479.html?utm_hp_ref=crime

The U.S.A. continues to experiment with executions

News article link:  

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/arizona-inmate-joseph-wood-execution

Arizona DeathChamber

Arizona inmate dead two hours after execution began

07/23/14 07:11 PM    By Tracy Connor

 Arizona execution took nearly two hours on Wednesday, and the prisoner’s lawyers said he gasped and snorted for an hour.

The execution of Joseph Wood — which Arizona carried out with a lethal-injection it had never before tried — is certain to fan the debate over how U.S. states carry out the death penalty.

Midway through the execution, defense attorneys asked a judge to stop the execution of Joseph Wood and order prison officials to try to resuscitate him. But before the court acted, he was pronounced dead.

“The execution commenced at 1:52 p.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC) - Florence. He was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m,” a statement Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said.

The statement did not say what problems the execution team had encountered, but Wood’s lawyers painted a macabre picture.

“He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour,” lawyers wrote in their request for an emergency stay of execution.

Wood — who was condemned to die for fatally shooting his girlfriend and her father in 1989 — had challenged the execution on the grounds that the state was violating the First Amendment by keeping the source of the lethal-injection drugs secret.

An appeals panel agreed with him, but the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay of execution. The Arizona Supreme Court briefly delayed the execution on Wednesday morning, but ultimately gave the state the green light.

Wood, 55, was scheduled to be killed with a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, the same drugs used in an Ohio execution in which the inmate seemed to struggle for air and took 25 minutes to die.

His execution date had been put on hold several times as the case wound its way through last-minute appeals. One of those decisions was notable for a dissent in which the chief judge of a federal appeals court said the guillotine would be better than lethal injection for executions.


Here's a youtube song for Mr Woods:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOWlP5Vfyfc&list=RDzOWlP5Vfyfc#t=279

 Julia Dillon Photography

The Process Is A Violation Of Humanity

The process, not just the execution methods, are a violation to humanity; both to the person we  are sentencing to Death, and to ourselves.
As citizens approving of capital punishment we diminish human life's value and we diminish our own personal humanity by participating in a very cruel process and the unnecessary taking of a life. We become the predator.
 
That may sound too harsh to some, but what do you call it when a captured person who has been rendered defenseless is ceremoniously killed?
What is your definition of confined captivity for years on end facing the promise to be executed?

It doesn't even sound like something we would participate in.
We were all guilty of just such acts when Joseph Wood, Clayton Lockett, Dennis McGuire were killed over the last several months. We are guilty either by agreeing with and upholding the present Death Penalty system, or we are guilty if we stand by in silence as this continues.
There are about 3,200 more human beings living on U.S.A. death rows.
What will you do about it today?  

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/21/opinion/A-Lifetime-on-Californias-Death-Row.html?_r=0

 "The state’s death-penalty system is “so plagued by inordinate and unpredictable delay,” wrote United States District Judge Cormac Carney, that it violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment."

"States including Florida, Alabama and North Carolina have responded to similar delays by moving to streamline death-row appeals. But speed is not the point if it comes at the expense of accuracy. As Judge Carney said, “death is a punishment different in kind from any other,” and so requires more careful scrutiny than any other.

"That extra scrutiny is “vitally important,” the judge pointed out: Half of California’s death sentences that were reviewed by a federal court were eventually vacated."


The cost is too high and a waste of our dollars:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/16/california-death-penalty_n_5592448.html

"Capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the state's Supreme Court in 1976, but was reinstated by the state legislature the following year. Since then, 13 inmates have been executed in California, most recently Clarence Ray Allen in 2006. An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found that the state spent $308 million on each execution."


Recent California Ruling Document:

http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Jones%20v.%20Chappell.pdf

Case No.: CV 09-02158-CJC 
ORDER DECLARING 
CALIFORNIA’S DEATH PENALTY 
SYSTEM UNCONSTITUTIONAL 
AND VACATING PETITIONER’S 
DEATH SENTENCE 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE:    CORMAC J. CARNEY       July 16,2014

On April 7, 1995, Petitioner Ernest Dewayne Jones was condemned to death by the 

State of California. Nearly two decades later, Mr. Jones remains on California’s Death 

Row, awaiting his execution, but with complete uncertainty as to when, or even whether, 

it will ever come. Mr. Jones is not alone. Since 1978, when the current death penalty 

system was adopted by California voters, over 900 people have been sentenced to death 

for their crimes.

p. 1

Of course, the Court’s conclusion should not be understood to suggest that the

post-conviction review process should be curtailed in favor of speed over accuracy.

Indeed, it bears noting that in more than half of all cases in which the federal courts have

reviewed a California inmate’s death sentence on habeas review, the inmate has been

granted relief from the death sentence. See Appendix A. The post-conviction review

process is, therefore, vitally important. It serves both the inmate’s interest in not being

improperly executed, as well as the State’s interest in ensuring that it does not improperly

execute any individual. Nevertheless, the Court holds that where the State permits the

post-conviction review process to become so inordinately and unnecessarily delayed that

only an arbitrarily selected few of those sentenced to death are executed, the State’s

process violates the Eight Amendment. Fundamental principles of due process and just

punishment demand that any punishment, let alone the ultimate one of execution, be

timely and rationally carried out.
p. 26

It has resulted in a system in which arbitrary factors, rather than legitimate ones

like the nature of the crime or the date of the death sentence, determine whether an

individual will actually be executed. And it has resulted in a system that serves no

penological purpose. Such a system is unconstitutional. Accordingly, the Court hereby

VACATES Mr. Jones’s death sentence.

 DATED: July 16, 2014

 __________________________________

 CORMAC J. CARNEY

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
p.29


Not a partisan issue:

"The George W. Bush-appointed judge disagreed with the common perception that executions have been thwarted by death penalty opponents outside the system, pointing out that the average inmate on Death Row waits three and a half years to get a court-appointed lawyer."

http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/federal-judge-strikes-down-already-stalled-california-death-penalty-140717?news=853712

Johnny Cash sings Shel Silverstein's song

"Johnny Cash - 25 Minutes To Go!"  This animated video is a bit playful with this serious subject, but we all need a sense of humor - especially when we're facing the Death Penalty - I think Kerry Lyn would get a kick out of this, and she loves Johnny Cash, as do I. He was performing the song to a group at Folsom prison, they seemed to enjoy it too. Enjoy! 

Kerry Lyn Dalton and Victoria Ann Thorpe, Death Row visit

Kerry Lyn and Victoria ; April 26th, 2014. Below, 4/27/14, I had another wonderful visit with my dear sister. 

Update on Kerry's case:
This June is Kerry's anniversary of 19 years living on CCWF Death Row - and yet her case has never been reviewed - no appeal after 19 years.
I ask those of you who believe the system has fail-safe checks in place to think about how this can happen.
Her case record is open to public access, find the status here:

http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=1927876&doc_no=S178504

If you are newly aware of Kerry Lyn's case, there are many details on the earlier posts of this blog - ones you won't find anywhere else. Please take time to look through the posts.

A quick synopsis:
What began as a missing person's claim Autumn of 1988, grew into unsubstantiated rumors of murder (fanned by the San Diego Metropolitan Homicide Task Force, who were under pressure to solve a serial murder case).
Over 6 1/2 years later, Kerry was on trial with out any one even declared deceased! 
With out any physical evidence: No Body, No Blood, No Weapon, No Crime Scene, Kerry Lyn was convicted on hearsay and snitch testimony February 1995. She was given a Death sentence after the penalty phase (which commenced 5 days later and ended in 4 days).

To this day there are no forensics to question, to prove any murder or even a crime.

Kerry has continually maintained her innocence, charged in May 1992 (the claims she confessed were reported by Richard L. Cooksey, eventual lead investigator on the case, prosecuting attorney Jeff Dusek's investigator. Mr. Cooksey took the stand 5 times during Dalton's trial, to "correct" witnesses testimonies, give his theories, and to state a snitch told him there was a confession.)

Because of the frustrations with waiting for the system to correct this wrongful conviction, and believing totally in my sister's innocence, I published the trial transcripts for the public to see in the book CAGES. You can see for yourself, read the exact trial, and help us make the wheels of justice turn - they have been at a standstill for too long! 
Please help us gain Kerry Lyn her life back!! Please help me bring my sister home...Write me for more info, get involved with the case, contact officials in California, support our efforts on Kerry's behalf.

SALE! to honor Kerry Lyn's 19 years surviving Death Row, we have lowered the cost of CAGES to just $14.50 per copy!

You can purchase copies here: 


https://victoriaannthorpe.com/Page_2.html    (click the PayPal button)

Or Kindle version for just $9.95! 
http://www.amazon.com/Cages-Victoria-Thorpe-ebook/dp/B00ADF4OYU/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1401574077&sr=8-1&keywords=Victoria+Ann+Thorpe

Two of our favorite songs: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qF_qbaWt3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmNLx7cGtfs

Governor Jay Inslee press conference on the moratorium

http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2014020105

Visit with Kerry February 2014

It will take "FAITH" to End the Death Penalty

The executive director of the Dallas-based advocacy group Hope for Peace and Justice, a Methodist minister, and a Reverend who is on the board of directors for the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP), put their feet in motion in support of life, peace, and love:

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02/22/5591398/fighting-death-one-step-at-a-time.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

"All the arguments against the death penalty — the exonerations, the flawed convictions — have slowly turned public opinion in their favor, according to Lynn Walters, Jeff Hood and Wes Magruder, the three making the 35-mile walk."


Read more about this walk in support of abolishing the Death Penalty in Texas, here:


http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02/22/5591398/fighting-death-one-step-at-a-time.html?rh=1

The walk coincided with an anti-death-penalty conference that was held at University Christian Church in Fort Worth. Sponsored by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

* This article shared with you in honor of Janet Fowler and her love for life and people.
(Thank you for sharing this article  with us Tom!!)

Moratorium on Executions

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee issues a moratorium on executions while he is in office.

Thank you, Governor Inslee.

http://www.kvewtv.com/article/2014/feb/11/gov-jay-inslee-announces-capital-punishment-morato/

http://seattletimes.com/html/editorials/2022914195_editdeathpenalty16xml.html

Update on Mr. Gentry’s status, Death Row, WA State, Walla Walla, WA State Penitentiary

Federal court removes hold on Kitsap killer's execution :
Kitsap Sun   2014/feb. 5   

“Wednesday, February 5, 2014 ... Although Judge Robert Lasnik's removal of the stay indicates, for now, the federal courts will allow the execution to take place, a state hold on Gentry's sentence still is in place until at least Wednesday and…” the article also indicated more appeals are pending dealing with retesting DNA.

This means we need to be prepared and work to express our desires to our legislators and our Governor:
Do we want to be responsible for killing another human being?
Do we want our government to be an instrument of taking the lives of its citizens? Should our State be in the business of killing?

When we have the capability of separating a person considered dangerous to society, therefore keeping both the individual and the collective safe, should we be wasting money and resources to carry out the Capital Punishment system?

Ending the Death Penalty will ensure we never chance executing an innocent person – which has been proven to be a real risk:
142 persons have been exonerated from death rows in the U.S.A.
We know we have accidentally executed other innocents…

Help restore human dignity and respect of human life by ending the death penalty.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty  are saying:

We come to this issue for a variety of reasons:

Some of us believe that small government and the death penalty don’t go together, especially when we compare the high costs of capital punishment to life without possibility of release.

Some of us don’t trust the state to get it right. We already know that some innocent people have been sentenced to death, and for others it may already be too late.

Some of us are disturbed by the roller coaster for family members of murder victims, or wonder why we’re investing so much in a system that doesn’t keep us any safer than the alternatives.

Some of us believe that the death penalty contradicts our values about protecting life.

And for many other reasons…

 “Conservatives have every reason to believe the death penalty system is no different from any politicized, costly, inefficient, bureaucratic, government-run operation, which we conservatives know are rife with injustice. But here the end result is the end of someone’s life. In other words, it’s a government system that kills people.”

Richard Viguerie

We are questioning a system marked by inefficiency, inequity, and inaccuracy.

Learn more here:

http://conservativesconcerned.org/why-were-concerned/

Hold Out for Wildness by Carol Ellis

Hold Out for Wildness

Startled by my smell – I came from behind - the doe reared her white rump

and then raised her weight on her forelegs beneath my birch.

I had suspected her presence since May when deer droppings

had massed in clumps under the split-forked tree.

In September small apples disappeared almost as soon as they fell.

This morning's full sun after a full autumn moon brokered

our first encounter – likely she had lain lazily in the warming rays.

I own no dog or cat to distress her, but hunting season is open:

no orange vest should stray onto my lot, but she bolted after her stretch.

In spring I'll invite her to birth a fawn on my damp leaves.

Two states south a friend feeds a young mouse with oatmeal

she's hoarded from breakfast and stuck two feet from her window.

“She's very brave,” writes my friend, and I respond, “So are you.”

Kerry Lyn lives on death row, and for eighteen years she's measured every move.

She also fed a mouse inside her cell, who died by poison bait set too close to her ears.

Why not feed the young and the wild? Why not hope one creature will survive one more day?

If the mouse bites Kerry, she'll be delighted and then doctored.

If she reduces her own rations as the mouse grows plump, she'll rejoice.

If someone traps the mouse in an outdoor raid, she'll cry herself to sleep

as she has many times before in that six by eight cube that can't contain her heart.

Carol Ellis, 2013

WA State is Near to Scheduling an Execution

Mr. Jonathan Gentry, a Death Row resident in WA State, was turned down on his appeal last Thursday, Jan. 23rd. The process to WA State scheduling an execution date will be as short as a couple of months from now, or perhaps 5 months. We will be working to find out as much as possible and share it asap, but we will also be working to STOP State killings. The government should not be killing. Please communicate with your representatives !


http://nonprofitspokane.podomatic.com/entry/2014-01-25T12_13_24-08_00

Click above and listen to the January 25th interview on KYRS with host Sam Evans, for the show Non Profit Spokane. We discuss Kerry's case and the need to end the Death Penalty.

WA State Death Chamber, Walla Walla.

RACHEL LA CORTE, Associated Press
Posted January 29, 2014 at 3 p.m.

OLYMPIA — Washington state will allow witnesses to executions to see the entire process, including the insertion of intravenous catheters during a lethal injection, state officials told The Associated Press.

The new witness protocol, currently a draft that is in its final stages of approval, includes the use of television monitors to show the inmate entering the death chamber and being strapped down, as well as the insertion of the IVs, which had both previously been shielded from public view. The new technology has already been installed, and officials say the protocol will be finalized within the next week.

Through public disclosure requests, the AP had sought information about any potential changes to execution protocols. State corrections officials spoke with the AP about the new procedures this week. The change is in response to a 2012 federal appeals court ruling that said all parts of an execution must be fully open to public witnesses. That ruling was sparked by a case brought by the AP and other news organizations who challenged Idaho's policy to shield the insertion of IV catheters from public view, in spite of a 2002 ruling from the same court that said every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses.

"We have been working on this for many, many months," Dan Pacholke, assistant secretary of the prisons division at the state Department of Corrections, said Wednesday.

Pacholke said they have been researching the technology needed to make the change and followed the process currently used by Arizona, which provides an overhead view via TV monitor of the IV insertion during an execution.

"It really does provide greater viewing capacity to the witnesses," he said. "It's going to take an overhead view to provide the view that the court wants."

Under the draft proposal, which is currently under final review within the Department of Corrections, witnesses will watch the inmate enter via monitors from behind a closed curtain to the death chamber, according to Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner. The curtain will be lifted after the inmate is strapped down, and the inmate will be given an opportunity to make a final statement. The curtain will close again, and the insertion of the IVs will be done via TV monitor. The curtain will rise again after the needle has been inserted.

Warner said that while some minor changes could still be made to the draft proposal, the main changes concerning full viewing access for witnesses will not.

The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals originally ruled in 2002 on witness viewing during an execution, and that ruling applied to the nine Western states in the court's jurisdiction. But until the 2012 ruling, four states initially kept part of subsequent executions away from public view: Arizona, Idaho, Washington and Montana.

The states had argued the policy was necessary to protect the anonymity of the execution team. Open government and journalism groups countered that witnessing all aspects of an execution is the only way to determine if it is being properly carried out. The media also argued there was a First Amendment right to view the entire process.

Arizona and Idaho changed their procedures as a result of the 2012 ruling that same year. Arizona now uses video monitors to show the IV insertion, but Idaho witnesses see the inmate strapped to the table and the insertion of the IVs through a window. According to an execution protocol approved last year in Montana, IVs are still inserted out of view of the witnesses.

Nine men await execution at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. No executions have occurred since the 2012 ruling, and none are currently scheduled. But the state Supreme Court just last week rejected a petition for release from death row inmate Jonathan Lee Gentry, sentenced for the murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1988 in Bremerton. Gentry could be the first execution in the state since September 2010, when Cal Coburn Brown died by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of a Seattle-area woman.

"This is the most extreme criminal justice sanction handed out by the courts, and this seriousness is not lost on those of us involved," Pacholke said. "Our objective is to carry out the sanction administered by the court and do so consistent with the most recent court rulings."

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2014/jan/29/washington-increase-execution-access/#ixzz2rprxXU00