Convicted
for killing a man during a dispute about money, Matchett maintains
he was defending himself, and he confessed to the crime only
because of police brutality he endured while in custody.
Furthermore, his counsel may few xobjections during the trial, and
allowed him to be incarcerated for 19 months prior to any trial
ever beginning. His counsel also only called two
witnesses during the punishment part of the trial and did not
follow proper mitigation steps in order to defend his client
properly.
The
case of Farley Matchett demonstrates the use of the death
penalty against the poor who cannot afford proper counsel.
ACT
NOW by contacting Gov. Rick Perry requesting that Farley
Matchett's execution be halted!
Update from Mr. Haughton (
now Farley's new "privat" attorney)
:
Re: any new
information on suspension of trial? ( Request from a german newspaper......)
07.Sept.06 19:30:53 Uhr
We
are continuing to push on Farley's case. I have just done another
interview for a reporter here.
If there
are questions I can answer, let me know.
Essentially
we are continuing on three fronts.
First we
are still trying to get clemency from the governor. The board
dismissed our petition.
Second,
we are fighting a civil suit on the lethal injection claim.
Third we
have state writ that is pending (we have most chance here) based
on the new life without parole claim, the use of Farley's race against
him as an aggravating factor, and other issues from his lack of proper
representation.
Best
regards,
Tony
Send your own Fax to the Govenor:
Governor
Rick Perry
c/o
Bill Jones - General
Counsel
P.O.
Box 12428
Austin,
TX, 78711, USA.
I wish to appeal to you on behalf of FARLEY MATCHETT, who is due to be executed on September 12. My sympathies go out to the family and loved ones of Uries Anderson, and I agree this was a very tragic event that cannot go unpunished. However, the death penalty—which is employed disproportionately against the poor and people of color who often lack adequate legal representation—is not the right punishment for FARLEY MATCHETT.
Matchett claims that he killed Anderson in self-defense. According to Matchett, he went to the victim’s home in an attempt to settle an 8-month debt. As the situation escalated, Anderson became angry and attacked Matchett, eventually threatening him by holding a knife against his throat. Matchett says that only at this point did he become violent, and he killed Anderson in self-defense. Matchett then called the paramedics for help, but Anderson died in surgery shortly after.
Matchett calls his trial “a mockery of justice.” He claims that upon arrest, he was beaten by police for more than 36 hours until he confessed. Then, the state incarcerated him for 19 months before he stood trial. Matchett cites ineffective assistance of counsel as a flaw of his trial, noting that his defense attorney called only two witnesses during the punishment phase of the trial and failed to make necessary objections. Additionally, his attorney failed to fully investigate and present a complete and accurate mitigation defense and did not challenge the admissibility of some questionable testimony. Instead, the attorney urged Matchett to plead guilty, thus forfeiting his right to challenge the legality of his arrest and the admissibility of his confession on appeal.
The state's case against FARLEY MATCHETT is extremely weak. FARLEY MATCHETT was convicted and lost his appeals largely because he has not received adequate counsel throughout his trial and appeals process. In view of the above mentioned information, I urge you to act quickly to correct this situation and stop the perpetuation of a state-sanctioned system of injustice. Please find it in your hear to spare the life of this human being.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this important and urgent matter
Signature
Name and Address
Message from Farley's supporters in Canada :
August 18, 2006
Campaign for Farley Matchett
Until now, we asked our contacts to send 8 letters to the 7 members of
the
Texan Board of Paroles and Pardons and to the Governor Perry. Around
50
letters have been sent from Quebec in the past 10 days to each of
those
people.............
There is also the petition online in both french and english that we
invite
as many people as possible to sign.
We also ask some "famous" people (politicians, artists, etc)
to support
officially this campaign. Their names will be published soon on the
Amnistie
internationale web site: www.amnistie.qc.ca
Please circulate this widely!
Thank you very much for your collaboration
Form letter to politicans, please see another Form below
from the canadian group:
August 2006
The
Honorable Rodney ELLIS
Texas State Senator
P.O. Box
12068
AUSTIN,
TX 78711-2068
USA
FAX #001 512 463 0326
Dear Senator;
The
State of Texas is scheduled to execute Farley
Charles MATCHETT (TDCJ-ID # 999060 ) on September 12, 2006.
Due
to the grossly incompetent state counsel, he was tried, convicted and
sentenced to death for astabbing-murder
most likely committed in self-defense. Unfortunately, and instead of
addressing this mitigating issue, he was persuaded to plead guilty to
capital murder in order to escape the death penalty. Hard to understand!
For the state habeas corpus, his capital appeal’s lawyer presented next
to nothing and filed his meager objections by fax ........ from The
Netherlands ! A « complete screw up » according to
Anthony S. HAUGHTON (.phone # 713 995 7776 ), the actual defense lawyer.
Dear
Senator, in his 2005 State of Union address, even President George W.
BUSH, a staunch death penalty supporter, said, among other proposals, that
« people
on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side ».
So,
may I respectfully call on you to intervene on behalf of Farley Charles
MATCHETT, who seeks fairness, wants to have his issues addressed and
petitions for a successive writ of state habeas corpus.
Stressing
that any thinking person for sure will agree that a « system that takes life must first
give justice » (John J. CURTIN, Jr., Former ABA President),
I remain
First Court-appointed lawyer
advised Farley to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty with
the knowledge that the State intended to pursue the death penalty
regardless.
As a result, Farley was
barred from a legitimate claim of self-defense, even though the State
judge asked three times if he wanted to do so, as there was key evidence
indicating self-defense.
First lawyer advised Farley
to plead to a judge and not a jury, thus denying him grounds for a new
trial on appeal.
This first-court appointed
lawyer suffered from bouts of depression, and ultimately committed
suicide.
Farley’s second
court-appointed lawyer (Tom Moran) was quoted in the New York Times as saying that he did not want to take any cases for
the $7500 fee provided by the State, but was being forced to take
Farley’s.
Within five minutes of the
initial meeting between Farley and Moran, Moran stated that Farley had
“no case” and “would be dead in a year”; but that he could file
some “frivolous” writs to stretch it out…
Subsequent to this, Farley
hired his own lawyer (David Botsford), who began a 256-page writ stating
that Farley should be entitled to a new Habeas Corpus process based on
incompetence of his first-court appointed lawyer and omission of crucial
evidence.
However, before Botsford
could file this thorough writ, Moran, who had been out of the country for
2-years serving on a War Crimes Tribunal, filed a 5-page writ from the
Netherlands without even researching the case.
Moran's writ only contained
five (5) issues, compared to Botsford’s writ of thirty-nine (39). Of the
five issues presented by Moran, three (3) were “not cognizable” under
State Habeas law, so in fact, only two (2) issues were presented.
The most significant
omission in the five-page writ was the fact that Farley’s first council
appointed advised him to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty,
when in fact he knew that the death penalty would be sought regardless.
A conflict arose when Moran
returned to Texas in 1999 to claim payment for his legal services. Even
though Moran had known of Farley’s decision to hire Botsford, he refused
to withdraw his writ. The court sided with Moran, and kept only Moran’s
five-page, two-issue writ.
With the help of a legal
specialist (Mr. Charlton), Farley received a Federal Chamber Hearing,
whereupon Charlton presented solid evidence that Moran had omitted all
crucial legal issues. The Federal Judge agreed to send the case back to
the State court for review of missing legal issues only.
A new State Habeas was
prepared with all issues left out of the Moran writ. However, the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) denied the writ and cited Farley for Abuse
of Writ, thus barring further Federal Review.
As a result, the Federal
Judge who sent the case back to State Court wrote a blistering opinion
stating that Farley “did not receive the bare minimum requirements under
the Habeas reform law Art. 11:071 because of incompetent counsel, who
couldn’t distinguish priorities of a client on a war crime tribunal
facing only ‘life’ and a client on death row facing lethal
injection.”
Texas
District 8 of the United States House of Representatives
1202
Sam Houston Avenue, Suite 8
Huntsville,
Texas 77340USA
Phone:Phone: 936-439-9542
Fax:Fax: 936-439-9546
Request
for Clemency in behalf ofFarley
Matchett, condemned to death, Livingston
Date
ofexecution:
September 12, 2006
Dear
Sir,
I
am writing to draw your attention to the request for clemency put forth
by the Canadian support group for Farley Matchett in conjunction with
Amnesty International and myself. This request has been sent by mail to
the members of the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons as well as to
Governor Perry.
Whatever
your position on the death penalty, I am convinced that you will be
sensitive to the succession of errors committed by Mr. Matchett's
various lawyers, as outlined in the following attachment. Of these
errors, the first was to have Mr. Matchett enter a guilty plea rather
than employ a legitimate defense.
I
wish to draw your attention also to the fact that Mr. Matchett is a
force of peace and moderation within the prison system, and has on
several occasions helped to restore calm during periods of agitation.
I
hope that you will consider using your influence so that the
recommendation of the Board and Governor Perry will be in favour of
clemency.
I
sincerely thank you for your attention into this matter,
Signature
Historical Overview of Farley's
case
Please
see above
To:
Republican
Michael McCaul, Texas District 10 of the United States House of
Representatives
903
San Jacinto, Suite 320
Austin,
TX 78701
512-473-2357
512-473-0514
(fax)
Democratic
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas District 18 of the United States House of
Representatives
Houston
Office
1919
Smith Street
Suite
1180
Houston,
Texas 77002
(713)
655-0050
(713)
655-1612 Fax
Democratic
Lloyd Doggett, Texas District 25 of the United States House of
Representatives
Austin
Office
300
East 8th St., #763
Federal
Building
Austin,
TX 78701
512-916-5921
1-866-916-5921
Democratic
Gene Green, Texas District 29 of the United States House of
Representatives
11811
I-10 East, Suite 430
Houston,
TX 77029
(713)
330-0761 tel
(713)
330-0807 fax
Republican
Ted Poe, Texas District 2 of the United States House of
Representatives
Humble,
TX
Toll
Free - 866.447.0242
281.446.0252
(fax)
Republican
Kevin Brady, Texas District 8 of the United States House of
Representatives
1202
Sam Houston Avenue, Suite 8
Huntsville,
Texas 77340
Phone:Phone: 936-439-9542
Fax:Fax: 936-439-9546
Letter for the clemency petition:
Please still send your Fax or phone the Govenor
Farley C. Matchett #999 060 is scheduled to be executed on
September 12 for homicide. His lawyer deposit a clemency request
for this man, I urge you to vote in favour of the clemency.
Serious miscarriages have been made in this particular case.
Mr. Matchett does not deny having killed a man, but has always
maintained a legitimate defense. The State lawyer assigned to
Mr. Matchett advised him not to use the claim of self-defense,
even though evidence indicated he had been attacked. Instead, he
was instructed to plead guilty so as to avoid the death penalty.
The trial lasted four days, during which Mr. Matchett's lawyer
made no objections, even when asked repeatedly by the Judge if
he wanted to reconsider his client's plea on the basis of key
evidence indicating self-defense. This court appointed lawyer
suffered from bouts of depression, and ultimately committed
suicide.
I would like to express my sympathy for the family of Uries
Anderson, and am not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the
crime or the suffering it has caused. However, I believe that
Mr. Matchett has the right to have a fair trial and I believe
that the death penalty can only perpetuate the cycle of violence
and suffering.
As such I call on you, Madams and Misters Members of the Board,
to vote in favour of the clemency.
Sincerely,
------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name, Street, Zip Code, City, Country
Send your petition for clemency to
Govenor Rick Perry:
Governor, State of Texas
Honorable Rick Perry Governor, State of Texas
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428 (512) 463-1849 Fax
Dismissed!
Maria Ramirez, Clemency Administrator, the
first address below, would forward a copy to all board members for
you, please ask her, if you might want send only one copy of your petition.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Maria Ramirez, Clemency Administrator
Executive Clemency Section
P.O. Box 13401, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
FAX: (512) 4065786
Members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles:
Rissie Owens, Board Presiding Officer
Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Elvis Hightower, Board Member Board of Pardons and Paroles
1300 11th St., Suite 520
P.O. Box 599
Huntsville, TX 77342-0599
936-291-8367 Fax
Jose L. Aliseda, Board Member Board of Pardons and Paroles
1111 West Lacy St.
Palestine, TX 75801
903-723-1441 Fax
Linda Garcia, Board Member Board of Pardons and Paroles
1212 N. Velasco, Suite 201
Angleton, TX 77515
979-849-8741 Fax
Charles Aycock, Board Member Board of Pardons and Paroles
5809 S. Western, Suite 237
Amarillo, TX 79110
806-358-6455 Fax
Juanita Gonzalez, Board Member Board of Pardons and Paroles
3408 S. State Hwy. 36
Gatesville, TX 76528
254-865-2629 Fax
