please show some love to linda

[atrollope]

The Channel4 story of the fate of Linda Carty was very harrowing.From life as a Primary School Teacher in St.Ktts(granting a British Passport)to the mean streets of Houston and Dallas.She was shamed into leaving her school in the Caribbean following a brief encounter with a St.Kitts Policeman.She was now pregnant,single..a big taboo.Soon after her arrival in Texas,she was beaten,robbed and raped by Drug addicts,again she became pregnant.Linda took the heart-wrenching option of giving the baby up for adoption.She said that in all conscience,she could not show the love that the child deserved.

It is always good to see Clive Stafford-Smith,the English Lawyer who is the fiercest fighter against the Death Penalty in the USA.

You see Lindas life went into a tailspin when she gave up the child.A string of abusive relationships later,she was implicated in a kidnapping.A young pregnant woman died ,tied up,in the boot of a Car.Two youths admitted taking part in the crime but,in a plea bargain,said Linda called the shots.

Come the Trial she drew the worst Public Defender of a Capital Murder Trial in the whole of the US.It is on record that this Lawyer handled the cases of more people currently sitting on Death Row than the combined number of condemned in the other 27 States that have the Death Penalty.

Mr Stafford-Smith expressed a plea at the end to the British People,to lend sympathy and support.Linda has been on Death Row since 2002.Time is running out,fast.

We watched this in rapt attention.At the end OH turned and said,"D"ya know,in this Country,in all likelihood she wouldnt be in Prison at all.But sent to a Psychiatric Hospital for a term"....Exactly!!

[ummmm]

Right, I didn't see it but why would she be sent to a psychiatric hospital?

[Teddy_boy]

That was common punishment for unmarried mothers and petty thiefs in the uk and ireland was infamous for it too.

[atrollope]

Thanks ummmm
1st..She is innocent.As Clive S-Smith says,the innocent are terrible witnesses...They cant tell you anything to help themselves out.
2nd Linda has suffered years of mental and physical torture..and it showed

[ummmm]

Was she showing signs of mental illness? I would have thought the US also do assessments on the accused mental health.

[atrollope]

That dont cut much ice in Texas

[daffy654]

If there was any sign of mental health issues they would have been unable to sentence her to death, that is enshrined in law in the USA.

[Teddy_boy]

You dont need to be mental to be in a mental institution.

[ummmm]

I was thinking along those lines.

Not saying her conviction is safe....but a hard life doesn't always result in mental illness.

[boxtops]

what's anyone supposed to do, who wants to protest in the UK?

[Teddy_boy]

Just because its the law , it doesnt mean its applied fairly.
http://www.fdp.dk/uk/ment.php

[atrollope]

Come on..It is widely known that in Texas,especially ,they nurse people back to health,in order to Execute them.

[ummmm]

Not widely known enough then, as I've never heard that :-)

[daffy654]

I find it hard to have sympathy for a woman I had never heard of until now.

I agree with ummmm, a hard life does not always mean mental health issues.

[atrollope]

We need a link to Clive Stafford-Smith,Linda Carty,and the Channel 4 show
maybe there is a petition to appeal to the Governor or a Senator.

[boxtops]

I've never heard that either, ummm

[Mamyalynne]

If anyone is moved enough to support the campaign, here is a link

http://www.ipetitions...ition/savelindacarty/

[Philtaz]

From a link on her Wiki page:

After the verdict was read out, Carty says she went numb. "I was devastated and started shouting, 'I'm not guilty - I wasn't even there', but at the same time part of me accepted it because I'm also a pragmatist. If you have ineffective counsel and the state presents its case you can't get mad at the jury for making a ruling or a judgment based on what they've heard. Nobody was there to plant any reasonable doubt. None of my witnesses had been contacted and my family wasn't even interviewed." There are two people - whose names Carty will not reveal - who can, she says, provide the alibi she so desperately needed at her original trial.
----------------------------------------

That's the part I find perplexing. If I was looking at the wrong end of a lethal potassium chloride injection I'd feel a little compelled to produce their names.

[ummmm]

Faced with what she is facing I also find that hard to believe.

[Brenden]

Didn't the two men who were with her testify that she suffocated the young mother.

[jd_here]

The Americans talk of Human Rights when they keep prisoners on Death Row for periods, sometimes in excess of 20 years, and then execute them. Is that civilized? I think not.

I watched this programme and feel deeply that Linda Carty has had a raw deal. The authorities want to put her to death without giving her a fair hearing and examining all the evidence, and, after plea bargaining from others involved. Sheer Barbarism, they should be ashamed of themselves.