AUSTIN -- Clarence Brandley spent 10 years on Death Row for the slaying of a 16-year-old girl, a crime he didn't commit. Now, more than two decades after being cleared, the former custodian hopes to convince Texas lawmakers that it's time to abolish the death penalty in Texas -- or least impose a moratorium on executions.
"To me, it's just a tool that prosecutors use to enhance their political careers," he said.Maura Irby of Houston embodies the opposite side of the debate. Her husband, Houston motorcycle officer James B. Irby, was killed in June 1990 while making a routine traffic stop. A passenger, a paroled convict, shot him.If the death penalty is abolished or suspended, Maura Irby said Tuesday, "what kind of message does that send to our law enforcement if we're not making it safe for them to do their jobs?"The opposing perspectives of one of society's most contentious issues were on display Tuesday as the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony in the first extensive death penalty hearing of the 82nd Legislature.Texas has executed more inmates than any other state -- 446 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Five have executions scheduled through midsummer, including two from Tarrant County.One is Cleve Foster, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the 2002 rape-slaying of Mary Pal, a Sudanese immigrant. The other is Cary Kerr, whose execution date is May 3 for raping, beating and strangling Pamela Horton in 2001. Foster would be the first Texas inmate executed with a new three-drug mixture.Moratorium proposedAmong the bills considered Tuesday was HB1641 by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, which would impose a two-year moratorium on executions while a select commission investigates how capital punishment is carried out in Texas. Dutton and Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, are also sponsoring separate bills to abolish the death penalty.Dutton said his proposal is designed to "make sure that the people who are factually innocent don't wind up being legally guilty."Former Gov. Mark White, who oversaw 19 executions while he was in office from 1983 to 1987, endorsed the moratorium in a letter to the committee. White, a Democrat who has previously raised questions about the death penalty, said he believes that the review is needed to deflect "the possibility of our justice system executing an innocent individual."Charles Terrell, former chairman of the Texas Criminal Justice Department, also supports the moratorium and investigative commission, calling Dutton's bill a "matter of common sense.""Texas does not need to be executing innocent people, and what harm does a moratorium do?" he said. He noted that Death Row inmates "would not be released from prison while the study is done."More than 40 exonerations in Texas -- including several of Death Row inmates -- have fueled efforts to abolish or suspend the death penalty.Opponents also cite the high-profile case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 after a Corsicana jury convicted him of killing his three daughters in a house fire.Several fire experts have said that the arson investigation was based on outmoded science, raising the possibility that the fire may have been accidental. The Texas Forensic Science Commission is reported to be nearly finished with an inquiry into the case."Texas has a problem with its death penalty system and we need to take a two-year pause on executions," said Scott Cobb of the Texas Moratorium Network, a leading supporter of Dutton's bill.But Charley Wilkison, director of public affairs for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, said his organization strongly opposes Dutton's bill, saying that lifting or suspending capital punishment would endanger officers.Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau chief. 512-476-4294Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
