April 2, 2002: Stop the State from killing Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman - Urge Governor Sundquist to give him clemency

Dear Friends,

As you may know, by a 6-0 vote on Thursday the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole recommended that the Governor reject the clemency petition of Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman. These board members clearly chose not to consider the facts of the case. They did not proceed in a fair and just manner. Moreover, they were hostile to Abu-Ali, to his attorneys and to the witnesses. As Abu-Ali's attorney reported, this hearing was a "sham."

A board member praised his original defense lawyers for doing "a great job," although the defense conducted no investigation and failed utterly to challenge the prosecution's case.

The board rejected the testimony and affidavits of the original jurors who swore they would not have voted for death if they had heard the evidence, characterizing these avowals as "kind of like having a trial at Shoney's afterward, without the prosecution present." The board seemed not to notice the seeming inconsistency of crediting the jurors' original verdict, although it was based upon a proceeding that was similarly flawed: The only judge to hear all the evidence wrote, "This is a case of no mitigating evidence--none--being offered to the jury despite its availability and abundance. Defense counsel was substantially ineffective and Petitioner was thereby deprived of a constitutionally fair trial."

The board's vote is advisory only, and Governor Sundquist is free to follow it or not as he sees fit. The governor and all citizens must decide if they are satisfied with the kind of "hearing" that has characterized this case--including the one conducted yesterday--or whether it is this type of "hearing" that has brought the death penalty into disrepute even among those who support it in principle.

It is more urgent than ever that all who are willing and able to acquaint themselves with the Abu-Ali case try to make some form of creative contribution. The Tennessean has created a Web page (http://www.tennessean.com/execution/) devoted to the case, including a fuller description of yesterday's hearing and a link to the dial-up version of the Mike Farrell video. (The high-speed link is http://easylink.playstream.com/incitedmedia/abu-ali/abu-ali_high.rm). You can also access the video through the ACLU-TN website at www.63.134.206.153.

Many thanks,
Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director