Protest Execution of Kenneth Foster August 30, 2007

Kenneth Foster is scheduled for execution on August 30, 2007.

Write members of the Texas Legislature and Urge them to Ask Governor Rick Perry to Stop the Execution of Kenneth Foster, Jr

Visit Texas Moratorium Network for more information about the Texas Death Penalty.

The case of Kenneth Foster Jr

The state of Texas has recently given Kenneth Foster an execution date of August 30, 2007. Please contact governor Rick Perry and ask him to grant clemency to Kenneth Foster, Jr..

The Case in brief:

* On the evening of August 14, 1996, Mauriceo Brown shot and killed Michael T. LaHood, Jr.
* Kenneth was the driver of a car in which three passengers Brown, Julius Steen, and Dewayne Dillard committed multiple robberies.
* Kenneth was only the driver. He did not participate in the robberies.
* Kenneth tried to persuade them men to desist and return home.
* Later in the evening, the men found themselves behind another car. The car parked and one of its occupants, Mary Patrick, waved them to the side of the road.
* Brown exited the car to speak to Patrick. During the exchange, he shot and killed the woman’s boyfriend, Mr. LaHood.
* Kenneth, along with Steen and Dillard had no prior knowledge of Brown’s intentions nor did they assist.

The Trial:

* Kenneth faced trial with the shooter, Mauriceo Brown.
* Brown admitted to the shooting, but clearly and freely stated that he acted on his own.
* No evidence exists that proves Kenneth participated in or knew a murder would be committed

Other Circumstances:

* Kenneth is legally and factually innocent of Capital Murder.
* Kenneth did not know that Brown had the gun when he left the car or that he was about to commit murder.
* Dewayne Dillard testified in an evidentiary hearing of Kenneth’s ignorance of Brown’s intent. Dillard said that Kenneth looked surprised and panicked after hearing the gunshot. Kenneth also started to drive away, but did not at the request of Dillard. Dillard’s testimony was not presented at trial.
* The judge told the jury that it could "find the defendant Kenneth Foster guilty of the offense of capital murder, though he may have had no intent to commit the offense." These instructions contradict both the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Enmund v. Florida and the standards of conviction under the Texas “Law of Parties.”

o Enmund v. Florida: the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment and is a disproportionate punishment when the defendant was not present at the killing, did not kill, and did not intend that the victims be killed or did not anticipate lethal force might be used in the course of a robbery or to effect a safe escape.

o The standards of Texas’ “Law of Parties” require the prosecution to prove intent to conspire to commit murder.

The death of Michael T. Lahood, Jr. is undoubtedly a tragedy. However, the worst thing Texas could do in this case is create more innocent victims.

Come to the Governor's Mansion in Austin or one of the protests sites in the list of cities below to protest the Texas death penalty every time there is a scheduled execution.

Statewide Execution Vigils

Huntsville - Corner of 12th Street and Avenue I (in front of the Walls Unit) at 5:00 p.m.

Austin - At the Governor's Mansion on the Lavaca St. side between 10th and 11th St. from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.

Beaumont - Diocese of Beaumont, Diocesan Pastoral Office, 703 Archie St. @ 4:00 p.m. on the day of an execution.

College Station - 5:30 to 6 PM, east of Texas A &M campus at the corner of Walton and Texas Ave. across the street from the main entrance.

Corpus Christi - at 6 PM in front of Incarnate Word Convent at 2910 Alameda Street

Dallas - 5:30 pm, at the SMU Women's Center, 3116 Fondren Drive

Houston - 5:30 to 6:20 at the Dominican Sisters Mother House at 6501 Almeda Rd. (corner of Almeda and Holcombe), Parking is accessible from Almeda Rd.

Lewisville - St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 1897 W. Main Street. Peace & Justice Ministry conducts Vigils of Witness Against Capital Punishment at 6:00 pm on the day executions are scheduled in Texas.

McKinney - St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Community located at 110 St. Gabriel Way. We gather the last Saturday of the month between 6:00 to 6:30 to pray for those men/women scheduled to be executed in the next month and to remember the victims, their families, and all lives touched, including us as a society.


San Antonio (Site 1) - Archdiocese of San Antonio, in the St. Joseph Chapel at the Chancery, 2718 W. Woodlawn Ave. (1 mile east of Bandera Rd.) at 11:30 a.m. on the day of execution. Broadcast on Catholic Television of San Antonio (Time-Warner cable channel 15) at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the day of execution.

San Antonio (Site 2) - Main Plaza across from Bexar County Courthouse and San Fernando Cathedral - Noon

Spring - Prayer Vigil at 6 PM on evenings of executions at St Edward Catholic
Community, 2601 Spring Stuebner Rd for the murder victim, for family
and friends of the murder victim, the prison guards and correctional officers, for the family
of the condemn man/woman, for the man/woman to be executed and to an end to the death
penalty.

Official Website: http://stopexecutions.blogspot.com