William Burns Clemency Letter (3/25/2002)
EXECUTED APRIL 2002 BY FAX: 512-467-0945 Mr. Gerald Garrett
Chairman, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Price Daniel, Sr. Building
209 W. 14th Street, Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78701 Re: William Burns Dear Chairman Garrett: On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge you to stay the execution of William Burns, currently scheduled for April 11, 2002 and to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Such relief is merited by the circumstances of his case. It would be patently unfair for him to die for his participation in a crime when the confessed killer is serving a life sentence. William Burns and his brother, Victor Burns were jointly indicted and charged with capital murder and the court ordered that the two brothers be tried separately. Victor Burns entered a plea of guilty and indicated that he had shot the victim. By this admission, Victor Burns established as a matter of law and fact that he was the triggerman . As a result of his plea, Victor Burns received a life sentence. During William Burns s trial, the prosecution sought a capital conviction based almost exclusively upon his statement that he had twice shot into the building where the victim was found. Despite admitting that he had fired into the building, William Burns never stated that he actually shot the victim. To the contrary, William Burns s insisted that he had not. Moreover, the jury was never told that Victor Burns had pleaded guilty to shooting the victim, or that Victor Burns had received a life sentence. The State sought to exclude all evidence of the disposition of Victor Burns s case over the objections of William Burns s lawyer. Despite the objection, and a good probability of success on the merits, William Burns was denied an opportunity for relief because of a technicality the defense failed to actually proffer the evidence that the State sought to exclude, although they had asked the court to take judicial notice of it. William Burns should have been able to prevent the State from excluding Victor Burns s admission of guilt as the triggerman and the resulting life sentence. That information would have been powerful mitigating evidence against a death sentence. The Supreme Court has said that a defendant facing the death penalty must be afforded the opportunity to present mitigating factors pertaining to any circumstance of the offense in order to receive a sentence less than death. See Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978). The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and in violation of the Constitution. Mr. Burns s case particularly merits relief. The courts have been unable to correct the serious legal error in this case. You stand as the court of last resort-- the final forum able to dispense a measure of fairness. Given the irrevocable consequences of a death sentence, we urge a recommendation that Mr. Burns s death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole. Sincerely, Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punshment Project William Harrell
ACLU of Texas Bart T. East
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
|
