|
Bermudians asked to help save life of death row inmate Exclusive By Lilla Zuill ISLANDERS are being urged to back a campaign to save the life of a Bermuda-born
man who sits on death row in the U.S. Those acting on his behalf are not focusing on his guilt or innocence
- their primary goal is to prevent his execution. It has been determined that by virtue of his birth here, Housel is a
dependent territories' citizen, and overtures reaching the Bermuda Sun
from London yesterday suggest that the U.K. may lobby on his behalf. Housel's parents, William Franklin Housel and Lula Mae Elkins Housel,
lived in Bermuda at the time of his birth. They were American civilians
and Housel's father was employed at the Kindley Air Force Base as a sheet
metal worker. The family left Bermuda about a year after their son's birth.
Housel's case has come to the attention of a number of locals through
an appeal from Reprieve, a British-based charity run by lawyer Clive Stafford
Smith. Mr. Smith, himself British, has been doing death penalty work in
the U.S. since 1978. He became a lawyer in 1984, and says, "much
of the work of my office [does] is at the initial trial level but we also
do a lot of appeals, including helping on the cases of a large number
of the foreign nationals sentenced to die in the U.S." Housel's case, says Mr. Smith, was handled by a lawyer, "only four
years out of law school and who pled him guilty and who put on no defense
for him at the penalty phase." Also, Housel has a history of hyperglycemia, which was untreated at the
time of the alleged crime, and not mentioned in the trial. Mr. Smith added: "It is very unlikely [in consideration, of his
medical condition] that he could have been convicted of murder [rather
than manslaughter] under British law. America does not recognize 'diminished
capacity,' which is one of the reasons that Europe will not deport people
back [to the U.S.] to face capital charges. "The European Court of Human Rights found that the American system
showed too little compassion for obvious mitigating factors. If Tracy
had been found guilty only of manslaughter, as he would have been in most
other jurisdictions, he would not [now] be waiting to be electrocuted."
Mr. Smith has been in talks with the British Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO), on Housel's behalf. And just yesterday a letter reached
Mr. Smith from Mike Tiney of the FCO Consular Division. It states that
the FCO have received a copy of Housel's Bermuda birth certificate and
that "according to both Bermuda and Nationality Section in Consular
Division this would make Tracy Housel a British Dependent Territories
Citizen by virtue of his birth. "He is therefore considered a British National, but - although he
does not have the right of abode (that is, he does not have the right
to reside in Bermuda - or the U.K. - without getting prior entry clearance)."
The letter further states that the FCO will be "seeking advice from
the [British] Consul General in Atlanta as to whether representations
should be made at this time." Mr. Smith hopes to attract support, both in Bermuda and Britain, for
Housel's death sentence to be commuted. "Housel now only has the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C. left
between him and the electric chair" says Mr. Smith. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook is slated to meet with President
George W. Bush next week, and is expected to raise the issue of the death
penalty in that meeting. Georgia and Alabama are the only two states in
the U.S. that continue to execute by the electric chair. Following a procedural change, Georgia death row offenders, found guilty
of crimes committed after May 1, 2000, will be put to death by lethal
injection. This, however, does not apply in Housel's case. Housel's case is to be covered by the U.K. Sunday newspaper, The Observer.
For further information, call Cueva Holder on 236-2481 and leave a message.
Or write directly to: Tracy Housel, EF-189200, G.D. & C.C., P.O. Box
3877, Jackson, Ga 30233
|