Amos King
Are they going to execute another innocent man?
NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT:
David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director
202-543-9577, ext. 16
cell phone: 202-607-7036
delliot@ncadp.org <mailto:delliot@ncadp.org>
www.ncadp.org <http://www.ncadp.org>
920 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
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'AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION:' WHY, IN JEB BUSH'S
OWN WORDS, AMOS KING SHOULD NOT BE EXECUTED
Feb. 14, 2003 - Florida is scheduled to execute Amos King on Feb. 26
despite serious questions about King's guilt, fabricated testimony
by a state medical examiner, destroyed evidence by the state and
an incompetent lawyer.
King's execution date, originally set for Dec. 2, was previously
stayed so that DNA evidence that purportedly linked King to the
murder of Natalie Brady could be tested. Results from those tests
were inconclusive - neither proving King guilty nor proving him
innocent. After the testing was complete, Gov. Jeb Bush said,
"In an abundance of caution, I ordered additional testing of
evidence in Amos King's case. That testing has been completed
and it failed to yield any new evidence."
Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of the National Coalition
to Abolish the Death Penalty, said Bush should maintain the exact
same standard when determining whether King is to die. "In an
abundance of caution, we should not be executing a man who may
in fact be factually innocent of the crime for which he was convicted,"
Hawkins said. "Executing someone who is not guilty beyond the
shadow of any doubt violates our Constitution, our democratic
values and our decency."
King's conviction and death-sentencing represents the worst
nightmare of the death penalty process:
****Evidence against King was circumstantial at best, and no
eyewitnesses tied him to a crime scene.
****King's attorney was notoriously inept. The 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals has written that King's trial attorney made "a number
of failures" during the guilt-innocence stage of King's trial, and
these failures "raise some question as to ineffectiveness."
****A medical examiner who provided key testimony against King
at his trial may have been incompetent. In 2002, the St. Petersburg
Times wrote that it was unknown if her conduct in one case had
been simply "inept or disturbingly conspiratorial in [her] zeal"
to facilitate a conviction and asked, "how many other autopsies
did [she] botch?"
****The state has acknowledged destroying one of the most critical
pieces of evidence in the case - vaginal washings infused with semen
- that if subjected to modern-day DNA testing could have established
once and for all King's innocence or guilt.
Hawkins demanded that Bush commute King's sentence to life.
"If Gov. Bush fails to act, he risks much more than the life of
Amos King," he said. "He risks demeaning the concept of justice
itself. Justice must be sure and certain. When it is not, then
justice must be merciful. In an abundance of caution, the life of
Amos King must be spared."
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The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty was founded
in 1976 and is the only fully-staffed national organization
devoted specifically to abolishing the death penalty. NCADP is
comprised of more than 100 local, state, national and international
affiliates.
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Amos King was executed by the State of Florida.
Amos King's Web Site
Was
an Innocent person executed?
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