Texas Execution: Gary Graham's Fate in Hands of Parole Board; Protesters Press for Reprieve
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: With supporters still maintaining his innocence, Texas death row inmate Gary Graham is scheduled to die 12 hours from now. Graham's last best hope lies with the Texas parole board, which will decide in about six hours whether to recommend a reprieve. Death penalty opponents around the nation are protesting. They cite the large number of executions in Texas and say Graham was unfairly convicted, mostly due to testimony from a single witness. No one can yet measure the political impact this case might have on Republican George W. Bush who has said no innocent person has been put do death in the state of Texas. In fact, by law, Governor Bush cannot issue a reprieve unless the parole board recommends it. CNN's Charles Zewe has more now on the last remaining options for a condemned man.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heavenly Father, I ask that you help us.</s>CHARLES ZEWE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prayers for peace in Huntsville, Texas where the emotion-charged execution of convicted killer Gary Graham is now only hours away.</s>CHARLOTTE MILLER, HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS RESIDENT: We do not have to bow to fear, we do not have to bow to hatred and violence and prejudice. And we can stand against those things.</s>ZEWE: A 36-year-old Graham claims he's innocent. With time running out, his backers are still pressing for a reprieve.</s>REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: We're here today to make an appeal for a fair trial that's open and honest and affords due process.</s>ZEWE: Graham is asking the 18-member Texas Pardons Board to overturn his death sentence. The board, which rarely meets and votes via fax, says it'll announce its decision at midday Thursday, in a case which has prompted a growing number of anti-death-penalty demonstrations. Presumptive GOP nominee and Texas Governor George W. Bush, who can't stop the lethal injection without a recommendation from the Pardons Board, says he'll not be bowed by protests.</s>ZEWE: Graham was 17 when he was convicted of murdering an Arizona man outside a Houston supermarket in 1981.</s>BERNADINE SKILLERN, WITNESS: Believe me, Mr. Graham shot that man.</s>ZEWE: He was convicted largely by testimony from a single witness, Bernadine Skillern. Graham's lawyers contend two other witnesses not called in the trial couldn't identify the killer. Three jurors who sentenced Graham to die now say they doubt his guilt. With hundreds of pro- and anti-death-penalty protesters expected, security has been tightened around the aging Walls (ph) Unit which houses the death chamber. Corrections workers living near the prison have been moved out of their homes and prison staffers have been given the day off.</s>ZEWE: Late yesterday, Graham was moved from the death row unit at the Livingston Prison, the Tarold (ph) Unit, as it's known, to the cell just off the death chamber within feet of the place where he will die in less than 12 hours unless the state Pardons Board or the U.S. Supreme Court stops this execution. If he is executed on schedule, Gary Graham will become the 135th prisoner executed since George Bush became governor, the 23rd this year alone -- Carol.</s>LIN: Charles, with emotions running so high on this case, are you seeing any signs of the protesters expected outside the prison today?</s>ZEWE: Not yet. In recent days, Carol, across the country there have been marches and protests of various types. Governor George Bush on the campaign trail has been dogged by protesters. They are expected to show up here in Huntsville much later in the day, perhaps as close as a couple of hours before the execution, which is set for 6:00 p.m. Central time tonight.</s>LIN: All right, thank you very much, Charles Zewe. Gary Graham himself asking people to come out and protest on his behalf.</s>LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for more on the Graham review process by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, let's go now to CNN national correspondent Tony Clark. He's in Austin this morning -- Tony.</s>TONY CLARK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. The Texas law is written in a way so it is designed to insulate the governor just in cases like this from the kind of pressure that arises in death penalty cases. In a death penalty case, the governor is given one opportunity to grant a reprieve to a death row inmate and allow them a reprieve for 30 days or more. In Gary Graham's case, that happened in 1993 with George Bush's predecessor Ann Richards. And so he has no opportunity in this case. Instead, he must wait for the Pardon and Parole Board to act. A majority of the board has three options they can vote for: The first option is to recommend that the governor commute the sentence to a lessor penalty, or they can recommend a reprieve, a delay, and grant a hearing into any part of the trial process, or they can simply not make a recommendation for commutation of sentence, and that would allow the execution to go forward. We're expecting a recommendation of some sort, or no recommendation, some sort of word from the parole board around noon Central time today. Governor Bush must now wait until the parole board acts before he can do anything.</s>BUSH: My job as the governor of Texas is to uphold the laws of the land. I will treat this case no differently than any other case that has come across my desk. I will ask two questions, innocence or guilt, and whether or not the person has had full access to the courts of law.</s>CLARK: If history is any gauge about what the parole board will do, there will be no recommendation for clemency in this case. They have only granted clemency one time during George Bush's governorship. Tony Clark, CNN, Austin, Texas.</s>HARRIS: Thanks, Tony. Well, you just heard George W. Bush say how he would approach the Graham case. Graham's attorney had this response to Bush on "CNN NEWSSTAND" last night.</s>JACK ZIMMERMAN, GARY GRAHAM'S ATTORNEY: Governor Bush has established two criteria: He wants to make sure that there's no other evidence of innocence that hasn't been heard. And two, he want's to make sure that the person who is about to be executed has had full access to the courts. In Gary Graham's case, we think we meet both of those criteria because we have the evidence of these two Safeway grocery store employees who've never been heard. And secondly, when they were discovered by competent lawyers some 12 years after the trial when they were first appointed, they'd never been able to get back into court.</s>HARRIS: Zimmerman says that Graham's trial defense lawyer never interviewed those two grocery store workers. Those witnesses initially told police that they could not identify the killer. Well, this morning, we will talk about the Graham case with some of those involved on both sides; in just a few minutes, the prosecutor overseeing the Graham appeal. Later this hour, execution opponent Jesse Jackson. And coming in the next hour of EARLY EDITION this morning, a man robbed and assaulted by Gary Graham, as well as a legal expert on wrongful convictions. Also, you can follow this case at cnn.com\law. At that Web site, you will find the latest news, plus legal analysis and a message board where you can voice your own opinion and read what others are saying as well.