FACING DEATH
By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
A San Antonio jury sentenced Kenneth Foster Jr. to death in 1997 for driving his friends from the scene of a deadly shooting after what prosecutors said was a botched robbery.
The 20-year-old was convicted under the conspiracy provision of Texas’ “law of parties,” a legal premise that alleged that Foster was just as responsible for Michael LaHood’s death as the man who shot him.
Under the controversial law, Foster was accused of being a co-conspirator in a robbery plot that he should have known was likely to result in LaHood’s death.
I wasn’t going to get into this conversation, but it looks as though many of you are slaving away researching the authorship of Section 7.01 of the Texas Penal Code.
I’m not going to tell you to stop, but what I will say, and it has been said before on this list, is that the author of the first part of the law, section (a), has been approached by Kenneth’s lawyers. They know who it is, and they have had conversations with him. The second half, which is the part Kenneth was actually sentenced under, didn’t have a single legislative author. It was cooked up by the prosecutors’ organization and inserted into the bill really late before its passage.
In this last day before the BPP makes a decision, if you are outside of Texas, wherever you are, what we really need help with is mounting calls, faxes, and emails to the BPP and the Governor. I know that sounds like it is not something major and may be a little unsatisfying for those that are really concerned with Kenneth, but it really is the most important thing right now that everyone can do for him. Its hard to imagine, but it really is more important right now to call and write the BPP then to figure out something that Kenneth’s attorneys already know. If you’ve already called or wrote, do it again. Tell your friends to do it, even if you already have. Send an email to everyone in your address book, bulletin it on myspace, put up a smoke signal… whatever you have to do to get others to call and write, now is the time. Vent your frustrations by being creative in alerting others to voice their opposition to Kenneth’s execution.
Stefanie Collins