Country Report for the United States of America, 1992

from the United Nations Special Rapporteur
on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

     623. The Special Rapporteur has received a number of reports concerning the death penalty in various states of the United States of America. It was repeatedly alleged that some of the safeguards and restrictions on capital punishment contained in international instruments relating to the rights of those facing the death penalty were not respected. This applied, in particular, to the right to adequate defence and the limitations on the death penalty for minors or mentally deficient persons.

Communications sent by the Special Rapporteur

Urgent appeals

     624. The Special Rapporteur has sent 10 urgent appeals to the Government of the United States. On six occasions, he responded to information received concerning the imminent execution of a death sentence; one case concerned a minor.
     625. Johnny Frank Garrett, who was 17 years of age at the time of his crime, had been sentenced to death in September 1982 after being convicted of murder by a court in the State of Texas. His execution was scheduled for 11 February 1992 (10 February 1992).
     626. Edward Fitzgerald had been convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to death in July 1981 in the State of Virginia. Allegedly, defendants in Virginia have experienced difficulties in obtaining lawyers to represent them on appeal. Reportedly, Edward Fitzgerald had not been represented by counsel until the beginning of July 1992, three weeks before
the scheduled date of his execution, 23 July 1992 (17 July 1992).
     627. William Andrews had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in November 1974 in the State of Utah. According to the information received, there had been evidence indicating that the murder had been committed by a co-defendant whom he had tried to dissuade from harming the victims. It was also alleged that William Andrews, who is black, was tried by an all-white jury, that a potential black juror had been excluded from the jury for his race, and that an inflammatory note with racial connotations had been circulated to the jury during the trial. His execution was scheduled for 30 July 1992 (21 July 1992).
     628. Ricardo Adalpe Guerra had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death on 4 October 1982 in the State of Texas. According to the information received, there was evidence indicating that the victim of the murder, a white police officer on duty, had been killed by a companion of Ricardo Adalpe Guerra. His execution was scheduled for 24 September
1992 (18 September 1992).
     629. John Sterling Gardner had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in September 1983 in the State of North Carolina. Allegedly, he did not benefit from proper legal representation during the sentencing phase of his trial. His state-appointed counsel, who was later reprimanded by the state and suspended from the practice of law for abusing drugs and alcohol during the time of John Sterling Gardner's trial, was said to have failed to satisfy minimum standards of competence (15 October 1992).
     630. Joseph Faulder had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1977 by a court in Texas. Allegedly, he suffered from brain damage which might have impaired his ability to determine right from wrong at the time of his crime. Irregularities with regard to evidence obtained from witnesses were also alleged. His execution was scheduled for 4 August 1992. In a second cable, the Special Rapporteur reiterated his concerns after he had been informed that the execution date had been changed to 25 October 1992, and again, in a third cable, after the execution was postponed to 4 December 1992 (25 June 1992, 21 September 1992 and 3 November 1992).
     631. Cornelius Singleton had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in November 1977 in the State of Alabama. According to the information received, the accused, a black, was originally sentenced by an all-white jury which had not been informed of his mental deficiency. This sentence was later reversed but he was resentenced by a judge sitting without a jury. According to reports, evidence of his mental retardation was presented at his second hearing, but was disregarded. In this context, the Special Rapporteur was informed of studies made in the United States of America claiming that in Alabama the death penalty was applied disproportionally on the grounds of race (13 November 1992).
     632. The Special Rapporteur sent another urgent appeal to the Government of the United States after receiving reports about the imminent repatriation to El Salvador of Cesar Vielman Joya Martinez, a defector from a clandestine unit of El Salvador's First Brigade who had confessed to having participated in several extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Concern had been expressed that his life would be in serious danger if he were to be extradited to El Salvador. The Special Rapporteur urged the Secretary of State, on whom the final decision in questions of extradition behoves, to consider the particular situation of Cesar Vielman Joya Martinez. He requested the United States of America to refrain from extraditing Mr. Joya Martinez until the situation in El Salvador was such that he could expect effective protection against the risk of extrajudicial execution (22 September 1992).

Other allegations

     633. The Special Rapporteur transmitted a further seven cases to the Government of the United States. Six again concerned the execution of the death penalty, allegedly in disrespect of the safeguards and restrictions contained in international instruments relating to capital punishment.
     (a) Nollie Martin was sentenced to death for kidnapping, robbery and murder in November 1978 and executed on 12 May 1992 in the State of Florida. Allegedly, he had suffered from severe mental illness;
     (b) Mark Hopkinson was sentenced to death in September 1978 for having ordered the murder of J. Green and was executed on 22 January 1992 in the State of Wyoming. Allegedly, the murderer of J. Green had not been arrested. At the time of the crime, Mark Hopkinson had allegedly been serving a prison sentence in California. Allegedly, there was not enough proof to justify the death penalty;
     (c) Robyn Leroy Parks was sentenced to death for a murder in 1977 and executed on 12 May 1992 in the State of Florida. Allegedly, he had been denied a hearing in Federal Court in January 1992 in which he sought to introduce new evidence. According to his lawyers, the new elements could have proved that he had not committed the murder for which he was sentenced to death;
     (d) Robert Alton Harris was sentenced to death on 6 March 1979 and executed in a gas chamber on 21 April 1992 in the State of California. Allegedly, tests performed on his body after the execution revealed severe organic brain damage;
     (e) Justin Lee May was sentenced to death for a murder in 1978 and executed on 7 May 1992 in the State of Texas. Allegedly, he was executed although his lawyers, in their petition for clemency, had presented new evidence, particularly the fact that the witness who had identified Justin Lee May as the murderer of a woman in 1978 had recanted his testimony in an affidavit. Moreover, Justin Lee May had allegedly suffered from brain damage and mental impairment;
     (f) Stephen Douglas Hill was reportedly executed on 7 May 1992 in the state of Arkansas. It was alleged that after a co-defendant had claimed in 1988 that he, not Stephen Douglas Hill, had killed a police officer in 1984, Hill was not able to obtain a new trial on those grounds.
     634. In addition, the Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government of the United States of America the case of Edser Altemaria, a Haitian refugee who was said to have died on 28 May 1992 while in custody at Krone Detention Centre in Florida. Allegedly, he did not receive the constant medical care required by his precarious state of health.

Communications received from the Government

     635. The Government of the United States of America has not supplied any replies to these cases. However, in the case of Cesar Vielman Joya Martinez, the Special Rapporteur has been informed by the source of the allegations that on 21 October 1992 the acting Secretary of State had signed the surrender warrant for Mr. Joya Martinez and that he was returned to El Salvador on 23 October 1992. With regard to the cases of Johnny Frank Garrett and Edward Fitzgerald, he was informed by the source that both had been executed as scheduled.

Follow-up on allegations sent in 1991

     636. The Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of the United States of America following up on allegations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions transmitted to that country, for which no reply had been received (see E/CN.4/1992/30, paras. 575-580).