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Richard Wayne
JONES
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Kidnapping - Robbery - Arson
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: February 19,
1986
Date of arrest:
Next day
Date of birth:
April 9,
1960
Victim profile: Tammy Livingston
(female, 27)
Method of murder: Stabbing
with knife 19 times
Location: Tarrant
County, Texas, USA
Status: Executed
by lethal injection in Texas on August 23,
2000
Richard Wayne Jones was convicted and sentenced to death for the
February 1986 murder of Tammy Livingston in Hurst, Texas.
Jones followed Livingston as she was leaving a store at about 7:30
p.m. As Livingston was backing out of a parking space, Jones ran to
the back of her car, opened her car door and then forced himself
into the driver's seat.
Later that evening, between 9:20 and 9:45, a Fort Worth resident
heard screams coming from a vacant property. At about 11:20 that
same evening, the Fort Worth Fire Department responded to a grass
fire in the same area where someone had heard screams. It was there
that firefighters discovered the charred remains of Tammy Livingston.
Authorities determined that Livingston had been stabbed 17 times in
the face and neck.
The morning after Jones was arrested, an eyewitness to Livingston's
kidnapping from the Michael's parking lot picked Jones out of a
police line-up. Jones' fingerprint was found inside the Livingston
vehicle.
Jones also signed a confession, admitting to the kidnapping
and murder of Tammy Livingston.
Jones had been out of prison for less than five months when he
committed this murder.
Defendant's Name
Richard Wayne Jones
Date of
Birth
April 9, 1960
Defendant's
Race
White
Criminal
History
Runaway as a
juvenile; burglary and theft: served 2 yr. 4 mo; paroled in
1981; 1983 aggravated robbery; paroled in 1985
Execution'
Date
August 22,
2000
TDCJ Number
Age at the
time of crime
26
Age at the
time of execution
40
THE CRIME
Date of
Crime
Feb. 19, 1986
County
Tarrant
Victim(s)
Tammy
Livingston
Race of
Victim(s)
White
Relationship to Defendant
None
Offense
Alleged
Capital murder
Factual
summary of allegations
Victim
abducted, stabbed 19 times, body nude but no sexual assault,
field set on fire, body burned; robbed: credit cards,
checks, car
THE TRIAL
County
where tried
Tarrant
Trial Judge
CC "Kit" Cook
Prosecutor(s)
Sharon Wilson,
Scott Wise, Brent Carr
Defense
Attorney(s)
Jack
Strickland, Bill Lane
Plea
Not guilty
Racial
Makeup of Jury
Convicted
of (statute)
Capital murder
Confession?
Coerced:
confessed after he and his pregnant girlfriend were
threatened with the death penalty
Accomplice(s)
Walt Sellers
and Brenda Jones Ashmore (Richard's sister)
Eyewitness(es)
Ruthie Amato
and 2 teenage daughters; Robert Speights (heard screams from
crime scene)
Scientific
Evidence
A lot of blood
around body indicating she was killed in field; a few spots
of blood on leg of jeans of Jones; Jones' fingerprint in
car; fingerprints and hair samples at crime scene—never
tested
Jail House
Snitch?
On Sellers:
several witnesses said he confessed, some from jail
Defendant
Testimony?
Yes; shackled
in court
Exculpatory
Evidence Offered?
No, but Jones
kept silent to protect sister. He knew Walt Sellers did the
murder and eventually stated this
Additional
Punishment evidence by State
Mitigating
Evidence by Defense
No psychiatric
investigation
Indication of cognitive dysfunction
ADHD-hyperactive
Abusive family-drinking,
beatings
Started running away
at 8
Mostly raised in
state schools
Two suicide attempts
Last state school
closed for brutality shortly after he left
Affirmed
conviction: Jones v State 843 S.W. 2nd 487
Cert to S.
Ct?
STATE WRIT
OF HABEAS CORPUS
Writ
Attorney
1st:
Strickland, Butcher, Lamoreaux; 2nd: William
Harris (Ft. Worth) and Rob Owen (Austin)
Appointed,
retained or volunteer?
Appointed
Grounds
Alleged
Coerced
confession, physical evidence doesn't support conviction,
real killer known, need for DNA testing
Cert to
S.Ct.?
February 2,
1993; denied April 19, 1993
Texas Attorney General
MEDIA ADVISORY
Richard Wayne Jones Scheduled to
be Executed.
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn
offers the following information on Richard Wayne Jones who is
scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22nd.
Richard Wayne Jones was convicted and sentenced to death for the
February 1986 murder of Tammy Livingston in Hurst, Texas. Livingston
was stabbed to death 17 times and then the area around her body was
set on fire.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
Jones followed Livingston as she was leaving a
Michael's store at about 7:30 p.m. As Livingston was backing out of
a parking space, Jones ran to the back of her car, opened her car
door and then forced himself into the driver's seat.
Later that
evening, between 9:20 and 9:45, a Fort Worth resident heard screams
coming from a vacant property. At about 11:20 that same evening, the
Fort Worth Fire Department responded to a grass fire in the same
area where someone had heard screams.
It was there that firefighters
discovered the charred remains of Tammy Livingston. Authorities
determined that Livingston had been stabbed 17 times in the face and
neck.
The night after Livingston's murder, Jones bought
a pair of boots with a credit card in the name of Tammy Livingston.
Later that night, Jones and a woman tried to buy groceries at a Fort
Worth Safeway with a check from the account of Tammy and Russell
Livingston. The woman with Jones, Yelena Comalander, was arrested
for trying to pass someone else's check.
The next morning,
Livingston's car was recovered from a parking lot in Fort Worth.
Jones' left thumb print was found on the inside of the front window
of the driver's side of the car.
Police also found several of
Livingston's belongings including her engagement ring and her
inscribed wedding band, at an apartment that Yelena Comalander took
them to. Police arrested Jones a short time later.
The morning after Jones was arrested, an
eyewitness to Livingston's kidnapping from the Michael's parking lot
picked Jones out of a police line-up. Physical evidence also linked
Jones to Livingston's murder.
Jones also signed a written statement,
admitting to the kidnapping and murder of Tammy Livingston. Jones
had been out of prison for less than five months when he committed
this murder.
EVIDENCE
Jones signed a written statement admitting to
kidnapping and murdering Tammy Livingston. Jones' thumb print was
found inside the front window of Tammy Livingston's car.
An eyewitness who saw Jones kidnap Livingston
from the Michael's parking lot picked Jones out of a police line-up.
A pair of jeans and a shirt Jones was wearing the night of
Livingston's murder were found to have blood on them that was the
same blood type as Livingston's.
Jones bought a pair of boots with a credit card
in the name of Tammy Livingston, the night after Livingston was
murdered. Jones and another woman, Yelena Comalander, tried to buy
groceries with a check that was traced to the account of Tammy and
Russell Livingston.
APPEALS TIME-LINE
Sept. 23, 1992 - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
affirmed Jones' conviction and death sentence.
April 19, 1993 - U.S. Supreme Court denied Jones' petition for writ
of certiorari.
May 25, 1994 - Court of Criminal Appeals denied state habeas relief
based on the trial court's recommendation for denial.
June 28, 1994 - Court of Criminal Appeals denied Jones' request for
reconsideration.
Oct. 29, 1998 - District Court entered final judgment denying
federal habeas relief.
April 7, 2000 - Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed district
court's denial of relief.
To date, Jones' petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme
Court is pending.
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
Testimony at the punishment phase of Jones' trial
indicated that:
Jones pled guilty in January 1978 to burglary for
which he was placed on probation.
That probation was revoked which resulted in Jones spending five
years in jail.
Jones pled guilty in January 1979 to three counts of felony theft of
property in Tarrant County. He was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Jones pled guilty in August 1983 to aggravated robbery with a deadly
weapon in Tarrant County. He was sentenced to seven years in jail.
The manager of a Taco Bell in Grand Prairie testified at trial that
he had identified Jones as one of two men who robbed the restaurant
on Aug. 2, 1982. The manager testified that Jones held a gun on
employees during the robbery.
A county jailer testified that while Jones' murder trial was going
on, weapons (toothbrush with a razor attached and a razor blade)
were found in his cell.
ProDeathPenalty.com
Richard Wayne Jones was arrested Feb. 21, 1986 --
two days after Tammy Livingston, 27, was abducted, stabbed and set
ablaze -- when he attempted to have his girlfriend cash one of the
victim's checks.
Jones, who had previous convictions for theft and
burglary, had been on parole less than four months for aggravated
robbery.
Jones confessed to the murder after his
girlfriend told police that he had given her the murdered girl's
checks to cash.
Besides his confession, Jones' fingerprint was found
inside the victim's car, an eyewitness in the store parking lot from
where Livingston was taken identified Jones as the woman's abductor
and clothing worn by Jones that night had blood spots that matched
her blood type.
Texas Execution Information
Center
Txexecutions.org
Richard Wayne Jones, 40, was executed by lethal
injection on 22 August in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a 27-year-old
woman.
On 19 February 1986, Tammy Livingston was
abducted from a parking lot in the Fort Worth area. A few hours
later, her body was discovered by firefighters called to a grass
fire. She had been stabbed more than a dozen times, one wound
slashing her carotid artery.
The day after the murder, Yelena
Comalander was arrested trying to pass one of Livingston's checks at
a Fort Worth grocery store. She told police that her boyfriend,
Richard Jones, had given her the checks.
At the time, Comalander, 18, was pregnant with
Jones' child. Jones, then 26, was arrested at his home the following
day. Police confiscated the clothes he had been wearing the day of
the killing.
They found two small spots of blood on the left leg of
his jeans, which matched Livingston. Jones' fingerprint was found
inside the victim's car, and he confessed to the killing to police.
Jones had been previously convicted of burglary
of a habitation and three counts of larceny. He began serving
concurrent 5-year and 7-year sentences in February 1979. He was
paroled in August 1981.
In September 1983, he was convicted of aggravated
robbery with a deadly weapon and received another 7-year sentence.
He was paroled again in October 1985. (During this time frame, the
Texas prison system was under the supervision of U.S. District Judge
William Wayne Justice, whose strict prison population caps forced
the state to release offenders early.) Jones had been on parole for
about 4½ months when Livingston was killed.
At his trial, Jones said he had nothing to do
with Livingston's murder. He said that the checks had come from
Walter Sellers, a friend of his sister, Brenda. He claimed that his
confession to police was coerced -- that they told him his
girlfriend would be executed and their child would be taken by the
state unless he confessed.
A police officer acknowledged telling Jones this,
but the next day, he recanted this testimony, saying that he wasn't
paying attention to the question.
Jones could not explain the blood
on his jeans, and an eyewitness identified him as the person who
abducted Livingston from the parking lot. This, plus the fingerprint
and his confession, persuaded the jury to return a guilty verdict.
In July 1993, Jones was scheduled to be executed.
Four days before his execution date, he wrote a letter from death
row explaining his account of the day Livingston was killed.
According to Jones, he spent the day working with his father, then
had dinner at home with Comalander. His sister Brenda unexpectedly
dropped by as he was getting ready for bed and asked for a ride to a
friend's house. On the way, she began crying and told him that she
and Sellers had robbed and killed two people.
When they arrived, he asked Sellers, "You killed
them?" and he answered "Yes we did." Brenda cried some more, saying
they needed to bury the bodies and they needed his help because he
was the only person they could trust.
Sellers showed Jones where
Livingston's body was dumped and gave him the victim's possessions
in return for his help. Later, Jones returned, doused the area with
gasoline, and set it on fire.
Jones wrote that he deserved to be punished, but
not for murder. He also wrote that he didn't believe Brenda killed
Tammy Livingston. "It's my understanding ... that she was just there."
However, he also believed that she could keep him from being
executed.
He wrote that he lied about Tammy Livingston's death to
protect his sister. "I was thinking at the time that my sister ...
wouldn't let her brother be put to sleep like an old sick dog for
something her and her dope-head friend done." A day after writing
this letter, Jones received a stay of execution.
Jones' defense team argued that his account
explained the evidence better than the prosecution's version. If
Jones killed Livingston, they say, there would have been much more
blood than two small spots on his pants leg.
They say that he got
the spots on his jeans from walking through tall grass that had been
splattered with blood. Further, they argue that the eyewitness who
tied Jones to Livingston's abduction gave a conflicting physical
description -- she described the suspect as clean-shaven, yet Jones
had a moustache when she picked him out of the lineup.
In the years since the killing, five people have
given statements that support Jones' version of events. Scott
Christian said Sellers tried to sell him credit cards and checks and
that he "had blood splatters on his T-shirt, and on his hands and
forearms."
Christian was called to testify at Jones' trial, but as a
local drug figure, he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination and did not testify. James Richard King said he
saw Sellers in a bloody shirt wanting to sell checks in early 1986.
Douglas Wayne Daffern said he saw Sellers with credit cards and
checks bearing the name Livingston. King and Daffern, two more drug
associates of Sellers, were both called to testify, but could not be
found.
Terry L. Gravelle related a conversation he had
with Sellers in jail, where Sellers said that Jones was innocent and
chuckled about his conviction. He said that Sellers told him "there
was a problem using the stolen checks or cards" and that he
subsequently gave them to Jones.
Finally, Robert Dean Miller,
another jailmate of Sellers, said that he told him Jones was
innocent. Gravelle and Miller were not discovered until after Jones
was convicted. In a recent death-row interview, Jones said that his
claim of innocence would have been believed if not for his past
convictions. "My past haunted me," Jones said. "That's what hurt
most."
A week before Jones' execution, a state district
judge refused to halt it. His defense lawyers failed to persuade
officials to delay his execution so DNA tests could be conducted on
crime-scene evidence. The day before his execution, the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Jones'
appeals.
His request for a stay was denied by the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles, and Lt. Gov. Rick Perry, responsible for
handling the case with Gov. George W. Bush out of the state,
declined to issue an emergency stay.
At his execution, Jones said, "I want the
victim's family to know that I didn't commit this crime." Turning to
Tammy Livingston's relatives, he said, "I didn't kill your loved one."
He told the prosecutor, "Sharon Wilson, y'all convicted and innocent
man and you know it.
There are some lawyers hired that is gonna
prove that, and I hope you can live with it." He then expressed love
to his family. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. Yelena Comalander
was convicted of forgery and perjury in 1987 and was put on 8 years'
probation.
Walter Sellers, now 52, has been in and out of
custody on a variety of theft, fraud, and drug charges since the
murder. He is currently serving a federal sentence for mail theft.
He denies any role in Livingston's murder.
Brenda Jones was on
probation for a drug conviction at the time of the murder. She also
has denied any role in the slaying. Regarding her brothers' claims
that she had knowledge that could have saved his life, she has
refused to comment.
Richard Wayne Jones
Lairdcarlson.com
Allegation
On August 22, 2000, the State of Texas, with the
acquiescence of the federal government, executed Richard Wayne Jones
by lethal injection. The state and federal governments failed to
ensure Jones’s right to a fair and impartial trial. The unfair trial
resulted in Jones’s execution.
Crime
On February 19, 1986, Tammy Livingston was
abducted, robbed, and then stabbed 19 times and murdered. Her body
was left in a field and, later, set on fire. The next day, a woman
was arrested while trying to cash checks belonging to the victim.
Under interrogation, the woman said she had obtained the checks from
her boyfriend, Richard Jones. Jones was arrested that evening and
was subsequently charged with and convicted of the crimes.
Salient Issues
After 12 hours of interrogation and 21 hours in
custody without food or sleep, during which police exerted undue
influence by threatening Jones and his pregnant girlfriend with the
death penalty if he did not confess, Jones confessed.
He signed the
confession under duress, only after he was told that his
girlfriend’s release was contingent upon his signing the statement.
Jones’s girlfriend signed two statements implicating Jones, but
alleged that police changed her words when writing them down. She
claimed the police told her that Jones had fled, and she was going
to have to take the rap for the murder.
Three eyewitnesses to the abduction provided a
description of the suspect as a clean-cut, white male with
reddish-brown hair, who was wearing a red shirt the night of the
murder. Jones had blonde hair, a mustache, and was wearing a brown
and gray plaid shirt the night of the murder.
Two of the three
eyewitnesses to the abduction failed to identify Jones in a line-up.
Their failure to identify him was omitted from the police report.
One eyewitness identified Jones, even though he did not fit her
original description.
Despite the bloodiness of the murder, only two
small spots of blood were found on Jones’s jeans, and no blood was
found on his shirt. According to Jones, his sister admitted to him
that she and her boyfriend, Walt Sellers, committed the crimes.
From the time he was arrested, Jones maintained
that Sellers was the actual killer. Two witnesses gave sworn
statements that they heard Sellers implicate himself in the murder.
Witnesses corroborated Jones’s testimony that Sellers had tried to
sell items belonging to the victim. Jones had an IQ of 75 and was
considered borderline retarded. DNA testing was requested and denied
prior to execution.
Trial
Richard Wayne Jones was convicted of Tammy
Livingston’s murder largely on the basis of his coerced confession.
While in police custody, Jones was denied food and sleep for 21
hours, and was threatened with the death penalty for himself and his
girlfriend if he did not confess.
The circumstances under which he
confessed were coercive, particularly for a man who was diagnosed as
being border-line mentally retarded and had grown up in state
schools – the last of which had been closed down for brutality.
The
evidence was overwhelmingly circumstantial and contradictory.
Although there were three eyewitnesses, only one identified Jones in
a police lineup. Jones, however, did not fit her original
description of the abductor. A second witness failed to identify
Jones in a police line-up.
Jones’s sister, a drug addict, admitted to Jones
that she and her boyfriend, Walt Sellers, committed the crimes.
Sellers was never investigated as a possible suspect, despite his
convictions for similar crimes during the period of 1985 to 1987.
Sellers was arrested with a dagger one month after the murder. The
Fort Worth Police confiscated the dagger and had it in their locker
room at the time of Jones’s pre-trial investigation, but never
subjected it to forensic testing. It was later destroyed.
Three
witnesses provided sworn statements that Sellers had been in
possession of the victim’s property shortly after the murder. After
Jones’s trial and conviction, two other witnesses gave affidavits in
which they stated that Sellers told them he knew Jones was innocent.
Appeals
Jones’s trial lawyer filed his initial state
appeals, which were denied. On November 1, 1993, Jones filed an
application for post conviction habeas corpus. After an evidentiary
hearing, the trial court recommended relief be denied. The Court of
Criminal Appeals adopted the recommendation, May 25, 1994.
After
obtaining new counsel, Jones was allowed to return to state appeals
courts to raise issues, such as lack of effective trial counsel,
which had not been raised by Jones’s original lawyer. Jones filed a
petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal district court on
August 12, 1994. It was dismissed because several state issues were
not resolved.
He reapplied for state relief and was denied again
with the Court of Criminal Appeals adopting the denial. The Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in an unpublished
opinion on April 7, 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing his
case.
Conclusion
Richard Wayne Jones was executed despite
compelling evidence of his innocence that was never sufficiently
considered by any court in the United States. He was convicted
largely on the basis of a confession obtained under coercion and
duress.
Both the state and federal courts failed to protect Jones’s
right to a fair trial by sanctioning the trial court’s use of the
coerced confession to convict Jones. State and federal appeals
courts denied the legal challenge to Jones’s conviction and the
evidence of innocence uncovered after his conviction. Despite being
subjected to police coercion, in violation of his constitutional and
international human rights, and irrespective of evidence of his
innocence, Jones was executed.
Richard Jones Webpage
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
For the alleged killing of a
29-year old woman, who was abducted from a parking lot on February
19th 1986, Richard Wayne Jones was convicted of capital murder and
sentenced to death in the 213th Criminal District Court of Tarrant
County, Texas in July 1987 and on April 29th 1992 the Court of
Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction.
Since then Richard has had 4 execution dates -
namely July 15th 1993, November 2nd 1993, August 8th 1994 and April
12th 1995. A few hours before being strapped down on the gurney, the
Federal Court of Appeals granted Richard an indefinite stay of
execution.
On October 15th 1996, Richard’s petition for
Habeas Corpus and motion for an evidentiary hearing was denied by
the United States Magistrate Judge. On October 30th, 1998, Judge
Terry Means ruled against Richard with regard to his last legal
filing.
In the first months of 2000, the 5th Circuit
rejected Richard's case and now a new - serious - execution date has
been set: AUGUST 22, 2000.
We pay the costs of the private investigator out
of our own funds. This is a lot of money. Contribution to a fund for
these costs are higly appreciated. Such can be paid to: Fund for
Life Switzerland Basel Postal Account Number 40-8628-0 Please remark
“Contribution for Richard Wayne-Jones”. Thank you !.
SUMMMARY OF HIS CASE
Richard asserted his innocence from the beginning
and said that the crime was committed by one of his sisters and her
boyfriend who abducted, robbed and killed the victim. Richard says
that his sister then came to him and asked him to buy the stolen
goods.
Richard did buy them and gave the goods to his girlfriend who
was caught trying to cash one of the stolen checks. Richard told
this to the police but he was never believed even so the only
evidence against him was the possession of the stolen goods.
There
were fingerprints and hair samples taken from the crime scene and
from the victim’s car as well as other evidence which would have
proven Richard’s innocence but were never tested nor identified.
Being poor, Richard could not hire a private lawyer at trial nor at
appeal. He was given State appointed lawyers.
An eyewitness told the police that the man who
abducted the woman was wearing blue-jeans and a red shirt, that he
had brown hair and was clean shaven. This statement does not match
with Richard. He is blond, had a moustache and was wearing that
night a brown checked shirt. However, it could match his sister’s
boyfriend who has brown hair and was clean shaven at the time.
At the trial the same witness testified against
Richard. Since Richard testified that he was never at the store
where the victim had been abducted, her testimony was extremely
important in the States case and it was crucial for the Jury.
This
witness was on deferred probation but the Jury was not allowed to
hear that the prosecutors sponsoring her testimony were from the
same office which had prosecuted her and who could bring revocation
proceedings against her. It would have been crucial for the Jury to
know that her independence was compromised.
According to the Grand Jury testimony offered by
3 witnesses, the boyfriend of Richard’s sister was trying to sell
checks and credit cards after the murder. One of the witnesses also
said that the name on those documents was the name of the victim.
The same witness also testified that when the
boyfriend of Richard’s sister went to his house and sought to sell
the victim’s property the night of the murder, he had blood spots on
his shirt and pants. The jury never heard these things and the
effect of these exclusions are undeniable.
At the trial Richard pleaded his innocence. He
explained that he had got the property from his sister’s boyfriend.
All of the witnesses supporting him, were for one reason or another
unavailable to him at the time of trial, but they had testified
before the Tarrant County Grand Jury where they had been subject to
cross-examination by the same prosecutor who had tried Richard.
By refusing to admit the Grand Jury testimony of
all these witnesses, the trial court deprived Richard of all
evidence corroborating his defence and therefore denied him his
constitutional right to due process. The jury never heard any
evidence supporting his defence.
The testimony of Richard’s girlfriend was also
crucial to his defence. She was with him during the period of time
immediately after he was supposed to have committed the murder. She
corroborated his story about the victim’s property. At the same time
she was charged with forgery in connection with passing the checks
and was appointed counsel.
The Assistant District Attorney approached her
and her lawyer and offered her ten years probation on the charges in
exchange for testifying before the Grand Jury against Richard. She
accepted this deal and was granted immunity by the State.
However, she refused to testify at trial , asserting her 5th Amendment right
against self incrimination. This governmental interference deprived
Richard of his fundamental right to present this key witness.
When he returned to the Trial Court on his first
application for a writ of Habeas Corpus, and also later on, he was
again thwarted in his attempts to present his story to the fact-finder.
He has never been given any chance to prove his asserted innocence.
Through the actions of the State and the Trial Court, and the
mistakes of Richard’s State appointed lawyers, Richard has been
denied the fundamental right to present evidence in his own defence.
The State was able to do anything they wanted to, whereas the
defence was denied each and every request. Richard was sentenced to
death because of his past.
His life
Richard Wayne Jones was born on April 9th 1960 in
Fort Worth, Texas. In the Jones’ family there were 5 daughters and
Richard was the only son. Both his parents were alcohol abusers and
were very violent. They abused all the children physically and
verbally, but as he was the youngest child, Richard suffered
particularly.
The family was for Richard a place of fear and
mistrust. When he was about 8 years old he began to run away,
because of his parents’ bad treatment. When he was about 10 or 11 he
began stealing - the only way he knew to attract attention.
In 1971 he was committed to the custody of the
Berean Boys Ranch. During the three years he spent there his parents
almost never went to see him. The people who took care of him during
that period said that Richard was a very good hard-working boy, that
he never gave problems to anyone and that he just needed to feel
wanted and loved.
On May 31st 1974 he was returned home to live
with his parents, but in late August 1974 they brought him back to
the Ranch voluntarily and left him there to stay.
On July 15th 1975, after committing a theft,
Richard was sent to the Gatesville Youth Facility , which was
infamous for its brutality and inhumanity. During this time he made
two suicide attempts. He cried out for help but all his cries fell
on deaf ears. Richard’s story is one of coercion, victimisation and
rejection.
As an adult he was in prison twice, for theft, then he
found a job and settled down. But pain and injustice were his
destiny. Richard was convicted for a crime which he did not commit
and wrongly sentenced to death because of his past.
This is just a brief summary. Many more facts and
new evidence - now available - would convince any fair minded person
that the wrong person has been convicted.
RICHARD JONES COMMITEE (arianna@linknet.it)
RICHARD WAYNE JONES - Executed on August 22,
2000.
Deathrow.at
Richard asserted his innocence from the beginning
and said that the crime was committed by one of his sisters and her
boyfriend who abducted, robbed and killed the victim.
Richard says
that his sister then came to him and asked him to buy the stolen
goods. Richard did buy them and gave the goods to his girlfriend who
was caught trying to cash one of the stolen checks.
Richard told
this to the police but he was never believed even so the only
evidence against him was the possession of the stolen goods. There
were fingerprints and hair samples taken from the crime scene and
from the victim’s car as well as other evidence which would have
proven Richard’s innocence but were never tested nor identified.
THE TRAGIC DEATH OF RICKY JONES: EXECUTED IN
SPITE OF INNOCENCE
There are only a few prisoners on Texas Death Row
that I personally know. Ricky Jones was one of them. Ricky was
executed by the State of Texas on August 22, 2000, despite strong
claims of innocence.
His lawyers asked the state for time to conduct
DNA testing that they believed would prove Ricky's innocence, but
the authorities, intent on having the execution proceed without a
hitch, denied their request. It would not have taken long to run
these tests. I have never understood why Texas seems so intent on
executing people rather than saving their lives.
I came to know Ricky because some of his friends
from Italy who believed in his innocence asked if we could videotape
an interview of him which they would use to raise money for his
legal defense. The interview was done at the Ellis Unit Death Row in
Huntsville, Texas, by Ray Hill of the KPFT Prison Program. My son,
Richard, who is good with a videocamera, taped the interview.
I traveled to Ft. Worth a couple of times with
our Italian friends, Arianna and Biagio, to meet Ricky's lawyer and
family. His lawyer, William Harris, expressed his belief that Ricky
was innocent of the murder which put him on death row.
The evidence
in the case pointed to the boyfriend of Ricky's sister. I wrote and
visited Ricky a number of times over the years. He appreciated the
friendship and always expressed thanks for the help that people were
giving him, particularly his European supporters. He always
maintained his innocence.
Friends who visited Ricky a few days prior to his
execution noted how pale and drawn he looked. This was undoubtedly
due in part to the stress of his pending execution.
However, I
suspect it was also due to the solitary confinement conditions at
the Terrell Unit where the death row prisoners are now housed.
Prisoners are kept in tiny 9X5 foot cells for 23 hours a day. They
are no longer allowed to recreate together during their one hour out
of the cell.
The work program that existed at the Ellis Unit has
been eliminated. The arts and crafts program has been curtailed.
Church services are no longer allowed. There are no TVs. These
conditions of isolation cause mental problems and would certainly be
considered cruel and unusual punishment by any society that dared to
call itself "civilized".
A few hours before the execution, Ricky's family
and friends visited with him via telephone from the Hospitality
House in Huntsville. I really did not want to talk to him because I
didn't know what to say. (What do you say to a man who is about to
be executed?)
In spite of his innocence, we had failed to save his
life. However, I summoned up my courage and talked to him for a few
minutes. I told Ricky that I admired his courage under the worst of
circumstances and would be praying for him.
I also vowed to him that
we would continue our fight against the death penalty in Texas. In a
voice of quiet despair, Ricky expressed thanks for my friendship and
for doing what we could to help him.
Ricky's execution was witnessed by four of his
close supporters from Europe. His last words were "I want the
victim's family to know that I didn't commit this crime. I didn't
kill your loved one. Sharon Wilson, y'all convicted an innocent man
and you know it. There are some lawyers hired that are gonna prove
that, and I hope you can live with it. To my family and loved ones,
I love you. Thank you for supporting me. Y'all stay strong. Warden,
bring it on...."
The rest of us stood outside the prison to honor
Ricky's life and to protest what was happening inside the prison
walls. The pain was excruciating for all of us, but particularly for
Ricky's friends from Europe.
Following the execution, a number of us went to
the Huntsville Funeral Home where we understood we could touch
Ricky's body and say goodbye to him. No one, including close family
members, had been able to touch Ricky while he was in prison because
contact visits are not allowed. This holds true even on the day of
execution. Personally, I consider this extreme cruelty on the part
of the prison system.
However, when we arrived at the funeral home, the
proprietor refused to show us Ricky's body, saying that he did not
have the "authority" to do so.
This obstruction by the proprietor of
the funeral home meant that some of Ricky's friends from Europe who
could not attend the funeral in Ft. Worth would never see him again.
In my opinion, this was part of the disrespect of families and
friends of prisoners which is so common in the prison system.
Ricky, we say goodbye to you for now, but we want
you to know that you did not die in vain. Your death, like those
before and after you, will help bring down this evil system of
executions which has such a grasp on Texas. We will remember you,
our brother.
Dave Atwood, President
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
(This essay is dedicated to Ricky Jones and his
supporters in Europe: Arianna Ballotta and Biagio Santoro, Wendy and
Jakob Schmid, Michela and Carlo Mancini, and Marianne Zimmer.)
