BY LEA SHERMAN
HOUSTON - Chanting, "Free Gary Graham," family and
supporters of Graham marched from Market Square Park to the
Harris County Courthouse here January 2. The 35 protesters
gathered to demand a stay of execution and a new trial for
Graham, who is scheduled to be executed January 11.
Graham, 35, was just 17 when he was prosecuted for capital murder in Harris County, Houston, in 1981. Graham, who is Black, was convicted and sent to death row at Huntsville prison on the basis of only one witness who claims to have seen him at the site of the shooting in the dimly lit parking lot of a grocery store. Six eyewitnesses said he was not the gunman and five other people placed him far from the scene. There is no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Despite this, on November 18 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin rejected Graham's appeal for a new trial. Immediately the Harris County District Attorney's office, which has sent the highest number of people to death row in the United States, requested an execution date and two days later a state district judge said that Graham should die January 11.
Graham, who changed his name to Shaka Sankofa in 1995, and his supporters have declared his innocence and fought for a new trial for many years. The rapid scheduling of the execution day surprised many who thought Graham had gotten a permanent stay of execution in 1993. There is an another appeal pending in the federal court.
Lea Sherman is a member of the International Association of Machinists.