Letter March 22th, 2004

Dear Friends, Thank you all for always writing and asking how I am holding up under the weight of this struggle. It absolutely means a lot to me when friends are warm and considerate toward me.

I am holding up pretty well. I put a lot of energy into keeping and maintaining a positive perspective on my situation as well as the possibility of abolishing the death penalty. But as any of you can imagine all days doesn't come with sunshine around here, and there are many cloudy days I find myself dealing with. I always say, there's a lot going on around me, and at the same time nothing at all is going on, and I'm usually caught in the balance of the two. For example, a week or so ago the guards found a friend of mine dead in his cell. He was found with with his radio headphones on his head and his shower shoes on his feet. I was told that it looked as if he had gotten out of his bed and fell in the middle of the floor and died. Immediately rumors started to fly that perhaps he committed suicide, but that was ruled out because it didn't look like foul play. I was glad to hear that it wasn't suicide because I didn't want to think that KB actually took his own life.

Kalvin McGee was his name. He was around 27 years old. We called him KB and he used to always have a smile on that big brown round face of his. I don't really know the cause of his death but several months ago he was complaining of chest pain He went to the infirmary and told us they said it was probably gas and sent him back to his cell. Just another one of the many horrible situations behind these walls that I find myself dealing with. The nightmare continues..

My attorney sent me a letter along with a copy of the brief we are filing to the Supreme Court on my behalf. In this letter he was telling me that the evidentiary hearing for my case will be April 2Sr. This hearing pertains to the two issues the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted me a few months ago. Hopefully the judge will see the need to grant me a new trial. I sure hope so because dealing with this situation on a daily basis has gotten old. I find myself using more and more energy trying to deal with this injustice. I've noticed that sleeping doesn't come easy anymore at night. So many thoughts be running through my head ....thoughts of loved ones, thoughts of my freedom, thoughts of loneliness, thoughts of hopelessness, thoughts of the daily mental grind of this hell I live every day. So many thoughts at night that I can't seem to shut off my mind and I'll find myself tossing and turning in my bed all night...but then sometimes it is okay because often when I think of my life on the other side of these bars I find myself fantasizing till the break of dawn. But when feelings of despair creep in the nights become very hard to deal with. I wanna go to sleep so bad that often the tears start flowing down my cheeks ...but tomorrow will always be another day and it will start whether I'm ready for it or not. So therefore I'm always ready to face it with a smile on my face and with hope for justice in my heart... Life just keeps on living...

Best Wishes, Anthony

Anthony Graves turned 38 on August 29th 2003. He's almost exactly four months older than I am but unlike Anthony, I spent part of my birthday in the pub and having a meal with my partner and young daughter. Anthony was unable to do what I will do. He has been similarly restricted for the last eleven years and spent this birthday much as he has spent most of these last years - in total isolation in a single cell in Polunsky Unit in Texas - death row, to you and me.

Anthony shares his situation on Texas death raw with 449 other inmates in the most prolific state in the USA for executing it's prisoners. Nationally, at the moment, there are around 3,500 inmates awaiting electrocution, hanging, shooting, or lethal injection within the 38 States of the USA which currently still have the death penalty on their statute book. July 2 this year marked the 27th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Gregg v. Georgia ruling, which re-instated the death penalty. Since 1976, over 850 condemned prisoners have been executed in the United States - currently the only industrialized Western nation to put it's own citizens to death.

Texas is not only notorious for the frequency of it's executions but also for the de-humanizing conditions that it keeps it's condemned inmates in. Typically, death row inmates are locked up alone in their 6 foot x 10 foot cells for 23 hours of every weekday and for the whole of every weekend. The one hour break from Monday to Friday represents an hour's "exercise" - walking around alone - in an enclosed "recreation" yard. For the remainder of their life in Polunsky Unit the inmates are confined to their cells with only a radio, reading materials and the few personal possessions that the rules allow. The food is notoriously bad - so much so that those inmates who can afford it feel compelled to order some better quality food of their own from the prison commissary shop. Even in death row, capitalism is alive and well.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 in response to the shocking state brutality and oppression witnessed during World War Il - recognizes each person's right to life and declares that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". It is indeed difficult to see how Texas complies with this criterion.

I recall many years ago when I visited Glasgow Zoo as a child that there was a polar bear kept alone in a small, partially water-filled concrete pit. It was frequently seen pacing back and forward, shaking it's head from side to side in agitation at the close confinement and tedium of it's existence. ln short, it was going mad. The zoo was criticized for this treatment and the animal was eventually removed - or it may have died - and was never replaced and the pit was later used for housing ducks. How, then, can we allow our fellow man to be treated similarly?

There are many common responses to this question. Some argue that the state must be seen to be "hard on crime" in order to provide a deterrent effect. Others argue that death raw inmates give up their human rights when they commit their crime. Then there is also a fiscal argument - why should American taxpayers pay for the Incarceration of those found guilty of serious crime when executing them would be so much cheaper?

None of these arguments hold much water. Scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in 1996, concluded: ". . . research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment JI.

It is incorrect to assume that people who commit such serious crimes as murder do so after rationally calculating the consequences. The large majority of murders are committed in moments when emotion overcomes reason or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Additionally, some people who commit violent crimes are highly unstable or mentally ill. ln none of these cases can the fear of the death penalty be expected to deter.

As for the criminal waiving his human rights when committing his crime. Does he or she cease to be a human afterwards? Are we to plumb the depths of man's inhumanity to man?

Moreover, the argument that capital punishment reduces the cost of dealing with serious criminals is simply untrue. A New York study estimated the cost of an execution at three times that of life imprisonment. ln Florida, each execution costs the state $3.2 million, compared to $600,000 for life imprisonment without parole. Similar studies in California, Kansas, Maryland, and North Carolina all have concluded that capital punishment is far more expensive than keeping someone in prison for life.

Other than the moral objections to state sponsored murder then - the cruelty of the execution itself and the cruelty of being forced to wait on death row, often for many years, contemplating one's intended execution, the death penalty would appear to serve no useful purpose. There is no deterrent effect and it's more expensive.

The main reason against the death penalty, however, is surely it's finality. As long as a prisoner remains alive he or she can hope for rehabilitation or for exoneration in the case of a prisoner who is subsequently round to be innocent. Execution removes the possibility of rehabilitation of the offender and compensation for judicial error.

The issue of judicial error is one which Anthony Graves is particularly concerned with for he has been protesting his innocence since the day and hour he was arrested eleven years ago and I, and many others both here and in the USA, believe him. His story is all too familiar. Since 1973, there have been seventy inmates released from death row after evidence of their innocence was subsequently uncovered. Most aren't so fortunate. The most common factors leading to wrongful convictions include: inadequate legal representation, police and prosecution misconduct, perjured testimony and mistaken eyewitness testimony, racial prejudice, tainted jailhouse "snitch" testimony, suppression of mitigating evidence and misinterpretation of evidence and community pressure. Anthony's case involves at least half of these and due to the incredible difficulty of overturning capital murder verdicts in Texas - to admit error damages legal and political careers - this man needs all the help he can get.

Please visit his website http:/ /www.desmainsunies.com/association2.html and make up your own mind and if you feel that Gan help in any way you will find information on how to go about it.

Steven O'Neil Glasgow,

UK, February 2004

The privelege of going to commisary

Here on Texas Death Row one of the few privleges we have has been the privelege of going to commisary. We are able to purchase things such as food items, personal hygeines, shoes and clothing items (undershorts, t-shirts, socks, and thermal wear) These are just as expensive in here as they are on the outside.

Inmates who aren't fortunate enough to be provided with financial assistance are forced to wear state issued clothing. These same items are passed around from inmate to inmate which could be very unsanitary. Can you imagine wearing your neighbors undershorts the day after he gets out of them? Well that's the guy down here that has no financial assistance.

We are always in need of help in one form or another, whether it's legal assistance, friendship, books, magazines, or someone sending money to the inmate trust fund to help take care of our needs in this hell hole. I'm sure many of you know how hard it is to ask anyone for some kind of help simply because you can't do for yourself. Most of us feel the same way. I guess pride can work against you sometimes.

I hope that you can all understand our position down here. So if there's anyway you feel you can help anybody down here, including myself, then don't hesitate because it is greatly needed and will be very much appreciated.

Best wishes to you and your family and we here on Texas Death Row look forward to hearing from you...

Best Wishes

Anthony Graves

February 6th,2004

I recently had a visit with two of the students from the "Innocence Project" who are trying to help me prove my innocence. They came to tell me that the evidentiary hearing that was scheduled for February 12th has been moved back to April. I don't know the exact date yet but I should in a few days. My attorneys have been very busy preparing our latest petition to be filed to the Supreme Court on the four issues that were denied a few months back by the 5th Circuit Court and also preparing for the evidentiary hearing. My attorney wrote and told me that when he can catch a breath he would write and give me a detailed update on all that's going on. At that time I will write again and tell you everything I know.

Thanks to everyone for all your support.

Peace and Blessings, Anthony

"My Happiness"

It's the beginning of a New Year and as I sit here on Texas Death Row, reflecting on memories and special moments of the past, my mind keeps wondering back to all the letters I've received over the years, and the special friendships that have come from them.

When people first start writing to me they quickly noticed how positive my letters are and how they are filled with such humorous laughter.

They quickly respond and seems to always make the same comment : " I like that you can still be positive and happy under your circumstances, I know it must be hard ?"

I've often thought of this comment and have tried so very hard to put it in such a perspective that I can better understand it myself.

I've come to the realization that "No", it is not hard for me to be a positive and happy person under any circumstances. Life and all the many circumstances that comes with it led me to believe that our happiness comes from our own choosing.

I am of strong mind that we get out of this life, the kind of effort we put into it.

When we look into the mirror the reflection that stories back at us is the one person that controls our happiness. After discovering this fact in life, I decided long ago that I would never give anyone or any circumstance control over my happiness. I am still able to be happy under these circumstances because I choose to be happy.

Tomorrow isn't a promise day to any of us and should I die tomorrow, it gives me great comfort and peace to know that last day on earth I was happy. So my dear friends, as I sit in this small cell and think of the comment that many of you have made to me, it has come to my attention that, happiness is a state of mind that has nothing to do with physical circumstances. We discover true happiness when we discover our own control over it. I refuse to allow this injustice rule over my happiness because it is mine and nothing or no one can take it from me.

My friends, this 2004 season of life find your true happiness and when you do realize that it is yours to keep if it is what you choose. It is yours and therefore you have a right to it.

Happy New Year !

Anthony

 

November, 28, 2003

To my dear friends, family, and supporters, I would like to extend my greetings and blessings to each and everyone of you.

I am writting this letter to you all in hopes of better explaining the latest rulling in my case.

As most of you have probably heard by now, the 5th circuit court of appeal has recently ruled partially in my favor while also turning our petition for a rehearing on the previous issues they had denied several months ago.

The 5th circuit has recently ruled that my attorneys and I have made a substancial showing of the denial of a constitutional right by failing to disclose that Robert Carter had implicated someone else as a participant in the commission of the murders ti the prosecution in an intervew the evenin before Robert Carter falsely testified in my trial. So they have remanded this issue back to the district court for an evidentiary hearing.

This means that the 5th circuit has now granted me a total of 2 out of seven issues that were filed. And ask for relief on.

This situation is a little tricky because we are faced with the decision to either postpone the impendng hearing, and furher pursue the 4 issues that have been debied to the Supreme Court or forfeit the issues and move forward on the hearing. The scary part is that if I eleict to forfeit the other 4 issues and move forward on the hearing, I will lose thse 4 issues and can never raise them as claims again.

If things don't turn out well at the evidentiary hearing I can file the 4 issues to the Supreme Court which will probably take at least a year or two to get resolved. Which will prolong this injustice and my stay on death row.

I have talked with my family and have decided to pursue the 4 issues for now, but the final decision has not been made until my attorneys and I have a chance to consult with each other.

So please find it in your heart to continue praying for my family and I as well as showing your unwavering support.

Thank all of you, my friends, and I hope to soon be on the other side of these walls celebrating a victory over injustice with you all.

Peace and Blessings

Yours sincrely

Anthony Graves

A nightmare in Texas

About 6 years ago I gave the death penalty very little thought. As a matter of fact I can’t even remember thinking about it at all… It didn’t effect me nor my family so I gave very little thought as to what our judicial system was doing. I figured if someone was arrested and convicted, then surely they were guilty. Then my nightmare began…

One evening I answered my phone and it was my ex-dauther-in-law. She was very upset and crying so hard I couldn’t make out what she was telling me. Finally a man took the phone from her and introduced himself as Detective Larry Lewis. From homicide in Baytown. Harris County. He told me that he had a warrant for my sons arrest for Capital Murder. And they would be taking him to Baytown very soon to be charged with the case of murder. I could not even breath. I was shaking all over... Them I calmly told him that he was making a very big mistake. And surely my son would be back home by dark. I didn’t know all that they had done to him while arresting him or I would have been screaming my head off. They had thrown him into a burning pile of brush.. His hair was burned. His face was burned and they had kicked him so hard they had broken a rib.I got dressed , went into Baytown and sat at the police station for 6 hours until they told me that I would not be able to see him. I called an attorney and turned over every penny we had saved in 16 years… After 72 hours the attorney was able to talk to my son. This was about a murder that had taken place 2 years before… My son had tried to help the police solve this crime at that time. Some boys had told him about killing an old man and my son was helping the police solve the crime. Nothing came of this and for 2 years I thought that they had taken care of the crime and it was all over. But this is the crime in which they had arrested my son for.

The Grand Jury indicted him. You see, I knew he was not guilty as we knew who had done this. So I really wasn’t that scared at the time. I just thought that the police would release him soon and they were just trying to get to the guilty people that did the crime. Months passed. And they were still holding my son. A trial date was set. Once when I was talking to the prosecutor I was telling her that they had the wrong person for the crime and she told me that it didn’t matter to her. That my son was the one that was going to go down for it.I couldn’t believe this. In other words. The truth just did not matter. But convicting someone, anyone, was what our justice system was all about. We were lucky… Six days before the trial was to begin the actual killer told the truth. I have no doubt if not for this my only child would be sitting on death row today…

After nearly a year my son was released…I cannot put into words the pain and helplessness we felt during this entire ordeal. And I cannot tell you in words how this changed everything I believe in for the rest of my life. I was so happy to have my son home that I did little but hold onto him. I wouldn’t let him move without a hug. The loss of not being able to touch your child is so great that I didn’t think I could ever let go of him..

Still with his coming home the entire ordeal kept eating at me… I kept thinking that there must be something that I could do to let people know what was going on inside our system. I got online and searched for lots of things. Wrote to many people. I knew in my heart that somewhere there were others that this had happened to. Then one day I was sitting in my rocker and my husband walked in with a newspaper in his hand. He just looked at me and said “ I have something here I want you to read “.. He opened the paper and pointed to a photo of a young black man.. And ask me to read his story.. This young man’s name was Anthony Graves and the more I read the more I was shocked that he was sitting on death row awaiting execution.. His case was so obviously like my sons that I got right up and went to my computer and wrote a letter to Anthony. That was the blessing of my life. Anthony and I have been friends for nearly 3 years. There is no doubt in my mind or my heart that he is innocent. I visit with Anthony every week. I’ve come to love him like a brother or maybe a son. I look into this man’s eyes every week and see nothing but courage and honesty… To some, what happened to Anthony would have driven them crazy. But Anthony believes that one day he will receive the justice that he so much deserves… I pray for that moment every night when I say my prayers. But Anthony and I both know that in Texas it does not matter if your are guilty or innocent. The killing machine keeps rolling.. Killing and killing and killing… Anthony deserves his freedom. He was taken away from his family and has suffered this horrible situation for 11 years… And he did nothing. He knew nothing about the crime. His family suffers. His friends suffer. But we will never give up. This is what the people of Texas face and there are very few that care. They are not educated enough about what is going on in the judicial system. At any rate if we do not fight for Anthony’s freedom with everything we can , we may lose this wonderful , innocent young man to the killing machine…

Anthony needs all the support we can give him… I beg of you to help us save this man that Texas doesn’t see fit to let live. A man that didn’t even know the victims. A man that was having a good time with his friends and family at the time the crime was committed. Anthony was convicted on the word of one man. And that one man has already been executed. He recanted over and over that he had lied about Anthony’s involvement. He started recanting less than a week after he lied and right up to the moment he drew his last breath…Please help us save Anthony from the executioners hand…

God Bless You All…

Bonnie Caraway

LETTER FROM TEXAS, OCTOBER 2003

My son David and I have been pen-pals with Anthony Graves since the summer of 1999, when we met him for the first time, when Death Row was at Ellis One prison outside Huntsville. Anthony did not say he was innocent to the charges, he just asked us to look into the facts of his case. We did, and became convinced, like so many others, that Anthony does not belong in prison at all.

Since then we have visited Anthony several times, and this October we went for a new visit - always hoping that the next time we meet with Anthony he will be a free man!

But before we had our four plus hours Special Visit with Anthony there were some other people we met. First with Bonnie Caraway, who tirelessly works for Anthony's cause in Texas. She drove up to Livingston from her hometown Hardin, to talk about what was happening and to receive a small sum of money from the newly formed Swedish support group for Anthony.

After that, on October 18, we went to Austin, the capital of Texas. This Saturday - hot like summer in Sweden - the 4th annual March To Stop Executions took place. It is arranged by the Texas Moratorium Network, a broad coalition of various anti-death-penalty and human rights organisations like the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Amnesty International plus many other local organisations and religious networks.

Photo of 4th Annual March to Stop Executions on October 18, 2003. To see the others pictures and to support the March by Donating Online to help to prepare the next March go to : http://texasmoratorium.org

The meeting point for the demonstration was Republic Park in downtown Austin, where you could see the variety of different people active in the movement, from young left-wing students to the families of some of the prisoners on death row. One of these was Ms Delia Perez-Meyer, who held a very moving speech on behalf of her brother whom she claims is innocent. Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger, describing how many different churches and religious communities that now are united against the death penalty, held another important speech.

Now, downtown Austin on a hot Saturday is not a place where you see many people outdoors!

To tell the truth, not too many were watching the about 200 people in the demonstration when it marched in the streets, up to the State Capitol, past Governor Rick Perry's residence, to its final destination, the Supreme Court Building. But there was nothing wrong with the spirit and enthusiasm from the demonstrators, when they chanted the slogans:

GOVERNOR PERRY, YOU CAN HIDE, BUT WE HAVE JUSTICE ON OUR SIDE; DEATH ROW - HELL NO; WHAT DO WE WANT? ABOLITION! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!

At the meeting in front of the Supreme Court there were also numerous speakers. Clarence Brandley, an innocent man who spent ten years on Texas Death Row before his exoneration and release, was a special guest speaker at this year's march. Also Sandra Reed (Mother of Death Row Inmate Rodney Reed), Anita Babineaux (Nanon Williams Support Association), Dave Atwood of TCADP, and others. Cities throughout Texas were represented - El Paso, Spring, Conroe, Beaumont, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Seguin, San Marcos, McAllen, Waco, Lubbock, Azle, Arlington, Bastrop, Austin and on and on. There were also people from as far away as France, Germany, Belgium, Holland - and me and my son David from Sweden. (Read more about the march: www.texasmoratorium.org)

The week after the demonstration, after some days of tourism along the Rio Grande and in Corpus Christi, we went first to Anthony's hometown Brenham to say hi to Doris, Anthony's mother, who was on her way to work.

The next day, October 23, we had the first part of our visit with Anthony. He was in good shape, but hungry, since all of Death Row was on lock-down because of reorganization work (shuffling people around, checking up on the cells) and no one was allowed to buy any extra food from commissary. People on Death Row, and in Texas Prisons in general, are very much hungry nowadays, because they have cut down on food rations to save money.

What is important, and a positive step in Anthony's case, is that a group of law students together with professor David R. Dow at the University of Houston, have begun to look into Anthony's case. This might be of great help in the research job, to find out the facts of what really happened and to test the real value of the evidence. At the same time, Roy Greenwood, Anthony's lawyer, is working in the regular appeals process.

But there are of course always lots of other things to discuss with Anthony, from music to politics to sport. As we know, Anthony might have had a career in football if things had turned out better, and he is still a great sports fan. Although the only outlet now for that interest is composing a fantasy World Team and compare his results to the World Teams chosen by other inmates on Death Row.

(He explained the very complicated rules for this - I was too stupid to get them!) And, as always, the eight hours just flew away, and we left Polunsky even more determined to do what we could to get Anthony out of there, out on the real football field before too long!

Lars Åke Augustsson writer, contact person for Anthony's Swedish support group "Anthony Graves Vänner" (The Friends of Anthony Graves). We will soon have out own website - we will let you know!

Waking up to a Nightmare!

Waking up on death row every morning is always the beginning of a nightmare.

My day starts when most of society is still asleep. At 3:am in the morning, I am awaken by the louds sounds of a correctional officiers shouts, "Chow time, cut your lights on and have a seat on your bunks." This is a vocal signal that breakfast is now being served, and that the psychological games for today have just begun.

Metal against metal began to sound out loud as the officiers open and slammed these metal doors against one another, causing a slight irritation with sleepy inmates.

Once seated on our bunks, the officers places a tray of cold and very little amount of food inside the slot that's inthe middle of the call door; he then commands you to come and get it, like a master does his dog while training him. Most of the time the food is thrown all over the tray like scrappings being piled up to be thrown away in the garbage.

Once the process of feeding breakfast has been completed, we usually try to fall back to sleep again before the next shift of officiers come to work. (which is less than two hours.)By the time you are abble to fall asleep, the lights quickly comes to back on in your cell for count. The officiers come through and ask for your name and T.D.C number. Lights are turned back off only to be turned right back on again 15 minutes later for recreation to begin.

Recreation is for one hour and consit of an area slightly bigger than the cage we are housed in. We are totally isolated in this cage, and the only contact we have with each other is eye contact. (Have you ever seen an animal pacing back and forth in his cage at the local zoo? Then this is the image of a death row inmate during recreation.)

The officier comes back to your cage to ask if you are going to rec.hoping that you are still sleeply and willing to refuse. Once it has been confirmed that you intend to go to rec.he then asks you to go through the humiliating routine of being stripped naked. He asks for your clothes, tells you to raise your hands, run yourfingers through your hair, stick out your tongue, lift your testicles, turn around, raise your feet, bend over and spread your cheeks. Once this process of humiliation is completed you are handed back your undershorts and shoes; told to back up to the door to be handcuffed and then escorted by the two officers working the Pod, to the recreation cage. Once secure inside this area they remove the handCuffs and give you the rest of your clothing. After rec.is up we are made to go through the wHole process of being humiliated again. We are then taking back to our cells and remain there untIl the officiers are ready to take us to shower.

Showers are located at the end of the walk way, which is only several feet from your cell, but you are stilL asked to strip naked and go through the whole strip search routine before being taken to the shower. You are handcuffed behind you back and escorted by two offciers.

Everywhere you go you are stripped search and handcuffed behind your back to reinforced the psychological mind game that you are powerless and therefore less than a human being.

Once returning to our cells after shower we are there for the remainder of the day, unless you are visited by family and friends, or have some kind of medical appointment.

We are served two more meals throughout the rest of the day, receive mail, pased out half clean necessities, ie. socks, undershorts, jumpsuits, sheets and towels that have all ben worn or used by many other inmates.

As the end of the day, we say our prayers, lay our heads down and began preparing our minds for the wake of another nightmare.

Anthony Graves.

A journey to the death penalty

When the death penalty was abolished in France in 1981, I had just turned 21 ; I lived in a small provincial city. The years went by so fast casting me into the era of internet, cell phone, Europe, world trade... I simply forgot what France looked like before '81 !

When I came to Texas, I wondered how I would look at this country which kills its own citizens several times a week. Leaving the airport, I saw the working zones, its cranes, the taxis passing by, the cars parking, the people waiting. Then on the road to Livingston, I saw the ill-treated roads, the fields and the trees, so many of them ! The houses and the trailers scattered in the woods, sometimes abandoned. I saw people laughing, others frowning , deeply serious ! And every time, I couldn't help myself thinking : what do they know about the death penalty in their own country ?

I met Anthony GRAVES at the prison. We asked the warren to take pictures; we got lucky because pictures are only authorized the first week of each month; we both believed that these pictures meant a lot more than all the speeches could. This small cage where Anthony lives shows all the isolation he has endured for the past ten years, a small slot in the gate to slide his wrists, so that the warrens can take his handcuffs off without having to touch him; a thick window and a phone to communicate with his friends and family, and white clothes to be more visible.

Facing that cage, I feel imprisoned, amenable to the rules, watched by the warrens, and disgusted by all this white color surrounding us. But towards me, a man is smiling for I am his freedom, and for the next 4 hours of this visit, this hell will vanish into the air.

I also met Anthony's family, his mother, his brother and his sons live in Brenham; it's a small town where racism is rooted according to his sister Demetria; that's why she's moved to Austin, the state capital. The 3 days I spent with them were fabulous : I can't tell you how many times I have heard the name of Anthony, maybe a hundred times ! Anthony is the eldest and from his prison, he's still watching over his family, gives advice, supports and encourages them. He is listened, respected and loved.

I met Arthur, Anthony's brother : he has recently written a book of gospel songs to help his brother, and we have talked about the association and what we can do to promote his book. The best would be to record these songs on a CD but he can't afford it, so I take advantage of this article to ask for some help, some sponsoring.

I won't tell you anymore about my journey; because finally nothing differs from one country with death penalty from another one without. It explains why this cruel punishment could last for centuries, in a democratic and a modern country. It also could reappear in a country without it, people would of course, in the first moments, react, demonstrate but then they would eventually forget. Because death row is nothing but a dungeon of oblivion.

Isabelle Périn

CASE UPDATE ON SEPTEMBER 5th

Dear reader,

On August 15th, 2003, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal handed down its opinion regarding my latest appeal for relief. There several issues presented to the Court on my behalf (7) but only one was granted in our favor. The other issues were turned down based on legal technicalities. We refilled to the Court for a rehearing on those issues in hopes of persuading a full panel of judges to overturn the previous decision by only three judges.

The Court has granted me an evidentiary hearing on the issue of "SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE" by the Prosecuting Attorney. Robert Carter, who falsely testified against me in trial had been telling the Prosecutor that I was innocent and didn't wish to testify against me. The Prosecutor never revealed this fact and proceeded to strike a deal with Carter. ( If he testified against me they wouldn't ask him anything about his wife's involvement in the crime.) After! And only after this deal had been struck with Prosecutors did Carter change his mind and proceeded to falsely testify against me.

The Court of Appeal recognizing that Carter's testimony was the reason for my conviction has ruled the statement Carter made before trial was extremely favorable to me and would have provided powerful ammunition for my Attorney to use in cross-examining Carter. Also, the impeachment value of his statement is even stronger when tied to the fact that he only changed his testimony when the states agreed not to question him about his wife's involvement in the crime. They went on to state that had the defense known of this statement it's possible that this case wouldn't be in this Court. So, the Court has decided to give us a evidentiary hearing on this issue to develop the facts on record for further review by the Court.

There has not been any scheduled date set for this evidentiary hearing and probably won't be for awhile, because we are attempting to get the hearing postponed until the other issues that were denied are resolved in the Court. It is very important to keep the other issues alive in the court because we simply cannot depend on the Court to do the right thing and reverse this conviction on the one issue they have decided to give us the evidentiary hearing on.

This ruling is a small victory, but we still have a very long process ahead of us. I ask each and everyone to continue your support in our efforts for justice. If you have any questions about this case you can write to me directly and I will do my best to answer all questions in your letter.

Thank you for all the love and support you have continuously given my family and I. May your lives continue to be blessed.

Sincerely Yours,

Anthony Graves.

My friends, you see, I was one of the many who allowed our government, through the media to influence my opinion toward people I'd never met I was always told that people on death row were the worst of humanity and didn't deserve to breathe the same air as you or I. The politicians use to tell society that the only way we could feel safe in our homes were to lock these people up and kill them. In other words, we are going to kill our way to safety and security from these people.

My first week on death row, I spent alone. I wouldn't go to recreation with the other guys or do anything that would put me in direct contact with these killers. A week later a guy who was housed several cells away called out to me and asked who I was and for me to come out to recreation later on that day. I didn't want anyone to think that I was a coward so I accepted his invitation, and hours later found myself in the company of men who society said should die. I was a little nervous at first, but it didn't take long for me to realize that my opinion about these men were wrong, in fact I immediately found myself enjoying the camaraderie between me and these people. When I finally went back into my cage, I sat down and reflected upon what had just taken place between the other inmates and myself.

I realized that these men were not in the image that the media had portrayed them to be, but on the contrary, they were just normal people who had made a mistake in life and had been condemned to die for it. There are many factors that goes into a man receiving the death penalty; most of them society isn't really educated on because they would be exposed to flaws of such a system.

I've been here a little over eight years and during this time I've come to develop some genuine friendships with several guys here. These friendships haven't been easy because I've also had to witness a lot of them being taken to the gurney and executed. I can't begin to describe the roller coaster of emotions that one deals within a system like this. I feel like I've died a thousand times in this place.

Why would I want to tell such a story you might ask? Well, because my entire life I've been programmed to believe what I've heard through the news media about such people and it has dawned on me that our government though the media has been giving our society nothing but propaganda regarding the men on death row in order to attempt to justify their position on this whole death penalty system.

I'm not writing this story to convince anyone that the men on death row are saints and should be looked at in such a way; It would be foolish to attempt to appeal to the public like that. I am writing this story to shed some light on the fact that in all walks of life there are good and bad people. The men on death row are not different from your good neighbor or your bad neighbor. It is simply my wish that as a society we stop judging such people without any personal knowledge of them, and instead of turning our backs on them, we would become more concerned about this whole death penalty situation, enough to get personally involved and find out for ourselves who these men really are. It doesn't take but a few minutes of your time and a little effort. I think that as a society if we are going to judge men in this position then we should at least feel obligated to find out who are the men we are judging.

Peace and Blessing.

P.S: I ask each and every one of you to check out the facts of my own wrongful conviction, and what my supporters and me are doing to seek justice. It is my sincere hope that once you learn the facts of my story you will be moved by your conscience to get involved in our fight for justice.

MOTHER'S PAIN by Anthony Graves

June 11, 2003, was the most painful day of my 11 years of incarceration . Since being on death row many executions have taken place but none of them will ever compare to what I witnessed on this particular day.

Kia Johnson is a friend of mine and was scheduled to get executed this day. I arranged with a friend of mine from the free world to come visit me during the same time he would have his final visit with his family. Everything worked out and I found myself sitting next to Kia in the visiting room laughing and talking with he and his family. His mother was beautiful and his brother was funny . We all tried to keep the mood as light as possible because we knew that in time Kia would have to deal with the date of the executioner...

Kia and I spoke a little about what he was getting ready to experience in the awkward conversation between us told me that my friend was scared and I wanted to be there as much as possible for him.

At 11:55 a.m. the officers came to get him and told him that he only had 5 minutes left to say his good-byes. At that moment waves of feelings came over me that I wasn’t prepared for . I knew I had to be strong for him so I fought back the tears as best I could.

The officers finally handcuffed Kia and opened the cage to let him out. He came out and walked right to the cage that I was sitting in . I stood up and we looked each other in the eyes for what I knew was the last time.

"Anthony", he said to me... I replied, "Keep your head up, man... Just go over there and eat a lot of stuff and come on back". " Ain’t no secret ", was his response, and then was lead away with several officers following him... At this moment I turned around to face his visitors , who were watching him walk away, and looked into the eyes of his mother . Words cannot describe the emotions I saw in this beautiful woman’s eyes, while watching the officers take her son away to be murdered like some wild animal... At this point I lost control of my emotions and a river of tears began to pour down my face..

I don’t know if I was crying because of my friends fate , or because of all the pain I had seen in his mother’s eyes. As I sat in that cage and watched his mother and friends walk away, a million thoughts began to creep through my mind all at once. I felt suffocated , helpless, weak.. A part of me was dying at that moment.

After everyone left the visiting room an eerie silence took over the whole room. All of a sudden I heard a guard and another inmate talking..." How long has Kia Johnson been here", ask the officer. "He hasn’t been here long", "Man, I’m ready to go back to my cell" said the inmate. "We have to wait for them to put that inmate in the van and pull off before I can take you back because no one can be in the hall way while they are loading an inmate to be carried to the execution table". "Man, It’s a good day to go fishing " the officer said.." Yeah, I use to go fishing all the time", responded the inmate. "Okay, it’s time to go they just pulled out with him" said the officer . "Man, Don’t forget to stop by the kitchen and get me a tray because I heard that they were having chicken today", replied the inmate.

As I left , I sat there baffled at the exchange of conversation I had just heard between the officer and the inmate. A man was in the process of being executed, and from both ends of the spectrum I had witnessed , in a matter of minutes, a lot of pain and sadness, to someone thinking it was just another good day...

I don’t know where I am going with this story , but I can tell you as I sit here and write about it, another day has come, my friend was executed, I’m sure the officer went fishing, and the inmate got his tray of chicken.

But there is a mother who has just become a victim of another senseless murder...

When will it all end ?

CASE UPDATE ON JUNE 5 th

In an unusual move, April 5th, 2003, the most conservative court in America granted a rare oral argument, in front of a three judges panel, in my case.

The five Circuit Court of Appeal went against normal procedure and allowed my attorney to present compelling evidence and highly suspect issues pertaining to my case to be argued in front of their court.

There were several issues (orosecutor's misconduct, ineffective Assistance of counsel, factual innocence, suppression of evidence, constitutional rights violations) discussed and debated in front of the judges.

My attorney and family members left the court room feeling very optimistic on the impending decision by the judges because this was the first time that any judges have listen to my case in its entirety and thus will make a ruling on all issues presented.

The judges showed great concerned about the injustice of this case and openly voiced their concerns during the argument. They will now goback and review all the issues raised and make a decision in the coming months. I am very cautiously optimistic, but I am still aware that this is the most conservative court in our Nation, and very seldomdo they like to right a wrog in our criminal Justice System. So while I am hoping for the best, I am prepared for the worst. As my case continues to progress and unfold in the courts I will keep you updated as best I can through our news letter.

Thank you for taking out the time to read this article. Keep my family and I in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely yours,

Anthony

 

 

LETTER ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSOCIATION WRITTEN ON MARCH 21st 2003

Mon Ami,

Bonjour, my name is Anthony Graves and I have been wrongfully convicted of a crime that I knew absolutely nothing about. At this time I am patiently waiting for the court of appeals to review my case and hopefully make a favorable ruling that will allow me to have a new trial or will totally exonerate me from this horrible nightmare.

Mon Ami, I have been incarcerated approximatively eleven years, and have been on Texas Deathrow for almost none. Since being here I have experienced and witnessed every emotion a human being can feel; I have witness mental, physical and emotional abuse, and I have met other men who have become a part of this system of poor legal representation, prosecutor misconduct, etc. It is these things that have motivated me to start this association and I hope to one day put this association in a position to help others reclaim their lives from an unjustice bestowed upon them by the Government of their particulary State.

Mon Ami, it is very important that you understand the seriousness of this cause, the human rights violations that are being perpetuated by the United Stes on its citizens.

Why must you from abroad help to fight injustice in America? It is important because America is looked upon by many as a leader of others countries and Nations and therefore immulated by many. If this injustice is kept around it will eventually effect the rest of the world; it is like a disease that could possibly spread world wide so therefore this death penalty becomes your fight as well.

My Ami, my vision for this association is to build it so that it can eventually save the lives of others and I know that each and everyone of us who are a part or will become a part of this association will all play major roles in the building of this association.

The first thing we must do is organize and plan fund raisers because it is important to build base to support our immediate and future andeavors.

We must have more concerts to continue to raise the awarness of this injustice to the public. We will develope contacts with media, take our fight to the air waves of radio, and to the streets in protest. I feel very strongly that if we join hands for justice then we can acomplish our goals and dreams of freeing innocent people from the death chambers.

I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your interest and support in not only my case but the case of injustice...

Let's join for justice...

Sincerely

Anthony Graves

SPEECH READ ON MARCH 19th DURING THE CONFERENCE ABOUT THE RACIALISM IN THE DEATH PENALTY IN US

Bonjour mon Ami,

My name is Anthony Graves and I am currently housed on Texas death row for a crime I know absolutely nothing about.
I have been on death row for almost ten years and the experience has been horrifying. One cannot comprehend the mental, physical and psychological abuse that I am faced with at the hands of such a corrupt system on a daily basis.

Mon Ami, I do not know which one of you are for or against the death penalty, but I'm sure we can all agree that if the system isn't working and it's putting innocent people to death because of their skin color, or their lack of financial security, or societal status then we as a society have a serious problem... Before I came to death row, I new absolutely nothing about the death penalty and how it was administered. I was under the assumption, as are most, that if a man/woman is sent to death row then he must be guilty because surely we do not, as a society, embrace the fact that it's ok to kill innocent people in our justice system, but I can tell you all that we are probably executing more innocent lives than society is willing to believe.
My friends, I say this with confidence because I've been through the system and I know that it is not about administering justice, it is only about convictions at the expense of those who aren't able to afford justice. It has become painfully obvious to me and anyone else who's had first hand experience with this system that it is a system that discriminate between the rich and the poor, the black and the white, the haves and have not. It is politically, and racially motivated. I have never once met a rich man on death row, there has never been a white man executed for killing someone black, and prosecutors use the death penalty to boost his political ambitions by appearing tough on crime.My ami, I can go on and on about the troubles regarding the administrating of the death penalty in the united states, particularly Texas, but the fact is if there's one problem that could lead to the execution of someone innocent then the death penalty should not exist in our society.

My Ami, the biggest problem that our society has in regards to the death penalty is that we aren't educating ourselves enough about this whole subject. We are blindly allowing the politicians to dictate our way about the death penalty... The death penalty is supposed to be administered to those who society feels cannot be rehabilited, not and eye for an eye type of justice. I can tell you that this is not the real reason behind the death penalty.
The death penalty is build around the emotions of our society, which in return we get a system that is seeking vengeance instead of justice.The United States criminal Justice is broke and will continue to execute the innocent who have been falsely accused and wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn't commit... This is a system that makes us all vulnerable because most countries tend to shape their system around the American Justice system. So therefore it is equally important for those who abroad to join the fight for justice in America. If not this same system will one day become a part of your society...

Let's Abolish the death penalty now!!!!

Thank you ...
Peace and blessings...

Anthony Graves

SPEECH READ IN MARCH 2003 DURING AN EXHIBITION IN GERMANY

First of all , I would like to thank each and everyone of you for coming to this exhibition and for your willingness to learn more about an innocent man on death row..

My name is Anthony Graves and as you all have heard by now I am currently residing on Texas Death Row for a crime I know absolutely nothing about.

To say this has been easy would be a lie, this has been the most difficult ten years in my life.

I have done everything in my power to try to get people involved in my case and help prove my innocence., but for some reason , here in America very few people like to get involved with other peoples problems so I've had to seek the kind of help I need from abroad and that 's why we are here today.

I need your help. I need your financial and moral support to win justice and to save my life.

Here in America ( Texas in particular) justice is spelled different from any other country I can think of.

Our justice is spelled..M.O.N.E.Y. And if you don't have it or can't get it then they basically close the court rooms and their ears about you and your case, and I don't think I need to tell how expensive this is.

I received a letter from my attorney the other day and he was telling me about the courts and their refusal to pay him for the work that he has done on my case.

This has stopped him from being able to finance a more thorough investigation and anything else that's required in order to present an effective brief to the courts that would tell the story of my actual innocence.

He told me that he has been spending money out of his own pockets to work on my case.

It should not be this way, But , unfortunately, this is the way of our system for the indigent.

My friends, I have a very strong case and once you review all the evidence then it becomes painfully obviously that this is the case of an innocent person.

So I am pleading to each and every one of you for your financial and moral support.

If any of you would care to write me directly I will answer each and every one of your letters as soon as possible.

My attorney told me the other day that we have just received some encouraging news from the court that we are in.

They have done something unusual in allowing my attorneys to come before the judges of this court and physically argue my case.

This is a very rare decision and it gives me one, of hope , but I know that in the final analysis I am going to have to be able to provide for a proper defense when this conviction is reversed.

My attorney is excited by this latest development but I am not as excited because I know that there's still a long fight ahead of us and we are going to need all of the resources possible to win justice and my impending freedom.

Well, I will close this letter by thanking you all again and letting you know that it is people like yourselves that give people like me hope, and on behalf of me and my family.....God Bless you all..

Your Sincerely

Anthony Graves