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Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innocent

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Thu Feb 24, 2005 at 05:15:49 PM EST
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Is Texas about to execute an innocent man? Pablo Melendez, Jr. is scheduled for execution March 14. Even the victim's mother thinks he is innocent.

Melendez’s case is alarming because he has a strong innocence claim. His case is surrounded by evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, conflicting witnesses, and undeniable facts which point to his innocence. Perhaps most compelling, is the fact that Gracie Jett, mother of victim Michael Sanders, is convinced that Melendez did not murder her son.

Here's why

  • There is no physical evidence tying him to the crime.
  • One victim of the crime described his attacker to police. A composite sketch was drawn of this suspect - a sketch which does not resemble Melendez at all.
  • He was convicted largely on the testimony of gang members and jail house informants.

Click on the link above to add your voice of opposition to the execution.

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    Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innocent | 10 comments (10 topical)
    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#1)
    by kdog on Thu Feb 24, 2005 at 05:57:12 PM EST
    I'd sleep a lil better at night if we changed the requirement to "beyond any doubt" in death penalty cases. Even then though, I'd still be against gov't murder.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Feb 24, 2005 at 06:26:20 PM EST
    Not me. I'm a death penalty supporter.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Thu Feb 24, 2005 at 07:13:00 PM EST
    An eye for an eye leaves the world blind... Or something like that. I am sure the usual cries of "If he ain't guilty of this crime, he is surely guilty of another... Let him fry!" will begin now.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 25, 2005 at 05:36:46 AM EST
    regardless of being a death penalty supporter or not, how hard would it be to use capital punishment in cases that we know, for a fact, the offender is guilty. we can use it in cases where there is no doubt, no questions. they exist, you know.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#5)
    by Che's Lounge on Fri Feb 25, 2005 at 07:24:55 AM EST
    Rooster, Are you GOD? You certainly sound like it. I hope for your sake that no one ever finds a "legitimate reason" to end your life.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 25, 2005 at 11:18:48 AM EST
    What the hell is going on in that state? Sounds like they should cancel all executions and review all death penalty cases, but they appear to like their bread and circuses (or is it tacos and hangin')? Has anyone heard about the Frances Newton case lately?

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 25, 2005 at 08:04:59 PM EST
    For those who pay close attention to death-penalty cases, it serves well to note that some of the biggest opponents of it are those who have lost loved ones to violence. But this might be a first, insomuch as someone from the victim's family believes the state has the wrong man. I've never heard of anything like this, although I don't doubt it's happened somewhere. This kind of thing happens way too often for my level of comfort. And it's telling to see how many death-penalty supporters are concerned about wrongful convictions. Anyone here who believes that Texas hasn't killed an innocent human being since they cranked up their death chamber has either been underwater or on the Moon for a long, long time.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 26, 2005 at 06:22:42 AM EST
    Hi Jeralyn, Sadly he's not actually the "next Texecution." Believe it or not, there are two scheduled before that. Congrats, BTW, on our joint-Koufax win. As I mentioned on the blawg when the awards were announced, you're no doubt the class of the field. I was honored to come close on the backs of the many ACLUers and abolitionists who get Grits on their topic over a large number of TX activist listservs. Further evidence, as the missus keeps telling me (she runs the e-activism system for a national group), that email is an action tool, while blogs are primarily a media strategy. Anyway, a three-peat for Talk Left! At least somebody on the left can boast of heading off a brash Texan in an election! ;-) Best,

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 26, 2005 at 08:58:29 AM EST
    Enough time has passed, and enough provably innocent people have been executed that the time has come to recognize that those who still cling to it have no love of justice. They are simply bloodthirsty, and they do not care whose blood is spilled to appease it.

    Re: Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innoce (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Feb 26, 2005 at 10:30:44 PM EST
    Thanks, Scott, I changed the title to reflect that he is not next. Congrats to you too on the Koufax, very much deserved. I sent you an email and left a comment on the Koufax awards thread saying I read you every day and you are doing a yeoman's job of exposing injustice in the most unjust state in the nation. Keep up the great work!

    Person Set for March Texecution May Be Innocent | 10 comments (10 topical)