On August 21, Texas is poised to do the unthinkable:execute a mentally ill young man who the state knows killed no one.In fact, Jeff is facing execution for a murder that he was not even present to witness.He was found guilty of a murder committed by David Reneau.David killed Kriss Keeran while robbing a Texaco convenience store in Kerrville, Texas.It happened on January 2, 1992, when Jeff was 22 years old, a mentally challenged young man. It is sad that mental patients and people with learning disabilities like Jeff are often easily led like little children.Jeff was abused during his early childhood, leaving him with a submissive personality.How hard was it for Daniel Reneau to get Jeff to accompany him to a robbery?Wood's defense attorneys stated in a clemency brief early this month, "Reneau -- the only person inside the store and who carried a weapon -- alone made the decision to take Keeran's life.Mr. Wood was outside the store in his brother's truck." Daniel Reneau carried a gun that Jeff never knew he had and committed a murder that Jeff didn't see occur.Although Daniel Reneau has already been executed for murdering Keeran, today Jeff will also be executed. Initially,Jeff was found not mentally fit to stand trial. He was admitted into a mental hospital and a couple of weeks later was found 'trial ready'.But one could argue whether Jeff was really competent at his trial, considering the way he tied his lawyers' hands as they tried to defend him."Bowing to Mr. Wood's emotional and irrational insistence, Mr. Wood's appointed lawyers declined to cross-examine any witnesses or present any evidence on Mr. Wood's behalf," his appeals attorneys argue. "Mr. Wood's trial attorneys called Mr. Wood's actions a 'gesture of suicide.'"(Quote source:http://www.alternet.org/rights/95690/stop_the_execution:_jeff_wood_faces_death_tomorrow_for_a_murder_he_didn't_commit/) I received a message a couple of days ago from a man who identified himself as Daniel Reneau's brother, Ben Reneau.He implored us to save Jeff, saying Jeff's execution is wrong.He expressed regret that his brother, Daniel Reneau, did not make a statement to clear Jeff of the murder.The truth is that a statement from Daniel probably would not matter to Texas, as the state acknowledges that Jeff actually killed no one.Jeff was sentenced to die under the Law of Parties, which makes all parties to a crime equally guilty of the crime. Perhaps they are like the people in this satire and believe it is simply time for Texas to have another execution, because executions are fun for some folks:
Texas Pardons and Parole Board decided not to grant clemency. The fate of this condemned mental patient is now up to Governor Rick Perry. August 21 is a sad day for justice if Jeff Wood is executed.
Mary Neal Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill P.O. Box 7222, Atlanta, GA30357 Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal
Founder and director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill ("AIMI"), an advocacy agency established in 2007 to (a) decriminalize mental illness in America; (b) remove the stigma associated with mental illness; (c) increase accessibility to inpatient and outpatient mental health services; and (d) advocate for improvements in how mentally ill citizens are treated within their communities, by police during arrests, and when incarcerated in correctional facilities.
AIMI was created in response to the secret incarceration and wrongful death of Larry Neal, a 54-year-old mentally ill heart patient who was secretly arrested in Shelby County Jail in Memphis, Tennessee for 18 days until his death on August 1, 2003.
Larry Neal's family is the only American family in the 21st Century to have a family member secretly arrested and returned to his family as a corpse without any excuse, apology, explanation, and denied any investigation.
This young man was not guilty! He did not have the reasoning at the time to know he was in the company of a criminal. He was looking for friendship and comradeship, and was used. If this young man dies then you set precidence to bring the President of The US of A to trial also under the Law of Parties. If this young man is put to death you bring even more negative to Texas. You raise a Texan who becomes President and he leads the world to death and war, just as this young man was led. He believed in friendship! You all believed in Bush and he led you into Hell.
by
Blacktiger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 49 comments)
on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 5:59:19 PM
It wouldn't be the first time this sort of thing happened in Texas. Bush, while governor of Texas, denied the plea for clemency of a mentally retarded man with the communication skills of a 7 year old, and even some guys whose lawyer fell asleep on them. (The court didn't think it was their responsibility to keep him awake.) Also, according to the following article, Bush made it harder for those sentenced to qualify for clemency, which may be affecting this new case.
TEXAS IS A GREAT PLACE FOR SPORTS - home of the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Rockets. And Texas ranks #1 in the most grusome sport of all: HUMAN SACRIFICE! Here is an article I wrote about the sport of execution, a cultural event that used to draw huge crowds when heads rolled in public:
Maybe it is the water in the governor's mansion in Texas that makes them enjoy this bloodsport so very much. The trouble is, Jeff's execution will not only bring shame to Texans, but to all Americans.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted Tuesday to deny clemency for Jeff Wood. Now, the only hope is that Governor Perry issues a 30 day stay of execution or that a judge issues a stay. Jeff Wood is scheduled for execution in Texas TODAY, August 21, despite the fact that he did not kill anyone.
Please pick up the phone and call Governor Perry at 512-463-2000 and urge him to use his power to issue a 30 day stay of execution for Wood.
What do you expect for Heaven's sake. This is TEXAS, a state of misery, of death and of hypocrisy (Christian?). No there is nothing that can be done for the poor man. The monsters that run that particularly abhorrent state are evil to the last and don't care who knows it. Would you even want to be in the same room with one of them? I'd much rather have a visit with the mentally challenged victim here than with the satanic governor.
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1338 comments)
on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 11:30:07 PM
I thank God for OpEdNews.com and other liberal Internet websites that allowed the public to register our outrage at such a travesty of justice as Texas was about to undertake! Jeff Wood has been granted a stay of execution, and NOT the Governor! Thank God Almighty for righteous judges! Texas has one. Read:
Federal Judge, Chastising the Texas Courts, Orders a Stay of Execution... The condemned man, Jeffery Lee Wood, 35, was to be put to death Thursday evening ... www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/us/22texas.html - 18 minutes ago - Similar pages
Call me vain if you want, but I choose to feel proud to have been a small part of the effort to save this disabled young man. I particularly thank God for the producers of the PRISONER GENOCIDE website to show the public the horrors of prison life. Read the website and see for yourselves: Prison is payment enough for ANY crime!
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