Update: I've put this off for 24 hours because I was pretty demoralized by the whole thing (and I doubt anyone checks this old diary), but Curtis Osborne was executed Tuesday despite strong evidence that he received an inadequate defense by a negligent, racist attorney. The only comment I'm going to make is that I found Governor Sonny Perdue's office to be unhelpful, dishonest, ignorant, unprofessional, and impolite when I called them to ask the Governor to consider the issue (they said he would not and should not and that they would not ask him to).
I know everyone's focused on Obama's victory tonight (and rightly so), but please take a moment to read this diary and the Slate story it links to. This is important and urgent.
Slate's Andrew Berlow has written an article detailing the scheduled execution by the State of Georgia tomorrow night of convicted murderer Curtis Osborne.
According to Berlow, there is no question that Curtis Osborne is guilty of murder, but there is disturbing evidence that his court-appointed lawyer was a racist who "barely lifted a finger to defend him" and said of his client "the little nigger deserves the death penalty".
Former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Norman S. Fletcher, who voted to execute Osborne in 1993, says neither the court nor the jury knew of the defense counsel's negligence and racism at the time. Despite a letter from Justice Fletcher, the Georgia parole board rejected Osborne's appeal.We all have a constitutional right to be represented by an attorney. If the state is not compelled to provide a competent attorney, this right is meaningless.
Please help pressure Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to commute Osborne's sentence.
Arlene Evans, the co-counsel assigned to Osborne's defense, resigned in protest because the other defense counsel "was always too busy to meet with me or me and Mr. Osborne" and "Because I did not feel I was qualified to handle a death penalty case, and because I did not believe Mr. Mostiler was prepared to defend Curtis Osborne". Mr. Mostiler ended up defending Curtis Osborne alone. According to one of Mr. Mostiler's other clients
Mostiler was offered a plea bargain under which Osborne would have received a life sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, but that the lawyer said he "would never tell Mr. Osborne about it because he deserved to die."
Ugly racist sentiment aside, it's impossible for our judicial system to function if the court-appointed attorney is not compelled to negotiate in good faith with his clients and act in the client's best interests.
Please take a few moments to contact Governor Sonny Perdue and ask that he commute Osborne's sentence to life in prison or grant a stay of execution so that the matter can be reviewed by a lower court (Berlow says there is a slim chance of this).
Governor Sonny Perdue
Phone: (404) 656-1776
Fax: (404) 657-7332
Washington Office:
Phone: (202) 624-3681
Email: use this link
We have 24 hours to act on this.