 "Photo: Jeffrey McWhorter")
Friends, family and fervent activists against the death penalty marched down Congress Avenue on Saturday and gathered in front of the Governor's Mansion to demand that the state not execute Kenneth Foster Jr.
"This case seemed to be an opportunity not only save Kenneth Foster, who is a magnificent human being, but to actually turn the tide in Texas," said Dana Cloud, UT associate professor and anti-death penalty activist.
On Aug. 30, Foster is scheduled to be executed for the 1996 murder of Michael LaHood Jr. Keith Hampton, Foster's criminal lawyer, says his client was more than 80 feet away when LaHood was fatally shot by Mauriceo Brown.
Brown, Foster, Julius Steen and Dewayne Dillard were all in Foster's car, and there was a gun in the vehicle. They had robbed several people at gunpoint during the night of the murder. Brown himself was trying to rob LaHood when he shot LaHood and ran to Foster's car. Since Foster was a willing accomplice in the robberies, the court found him guilty of attempting to rob LaHood, which inevitably led to his death.
"He did not hurt anybody, and he's not going to," said Foster's 11-year-old daughter, Nydesha.
On Oct. 2, 2006, Foster's final appeal was denied in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. A date was set for Foster's execution in May of this year. The approaching execution prompted dozens of people to gather Saturday evening to protest the execution, a walk that began at the capital and ended in front of the mansion.
"Because, I think, of the widespread outrage at this case, perhaps if we put enough light on it and put enough pressure on the governor and the board of pardons and paroles, that this could actually slow down the machine of death in Texas," Cloud said.
Foster was tried with Brown, and on May 5, 1997, both were found guilty of capital murder. Brown was executed for the murder of LaHood in July 2006.
"A life has been taken for a life," said Lawrence Foster, Kenneth's grandfather. "Are we going to have to give two lives for one?"
Two weeks before his execution, Brown, who pleaded self-defense, confided to Mary Felps, a civil lawyer who now represents Foster, telling her Foster had no involvement in the shooting.
"Mauriceo Brown said Kenneth Foster had no idea that anything was going to happen to Michael LaHood Jr.," Felps said.
Before the protest, Felps spoke on behalf of Foster, who sent his deepest regards to the LaHood family for the loss of their son. Foster's grandfather likewise echoed his sympathy but felt his grandson's involvement was not enough for him to be executed.
"He should not even be on death row," said Foster. "You know, Texas justice sometimes is not fair. This is one of the times, I think."
In addition to being tried with the shooter, Hampton said there are many other inconsistencies in his client's trial. Dewayne Dillard and Julius Steen, two other passengers in Foster's car that night, have both stated that Foster was unaware that Brown was going to kill LaHood, let alone that Brown even left the car with a gun in his hand.
Dillard testified in an evidentiary hearing, but his testimony was never presented at trial.
Hampton also said that clarification of Steen's testimony would have helped Foster's case, but Steen was never given the chance. Foster also never testified in his trials.
"At every detail of this case is a rail on the tracks of injustice," Cloud said.
Hampton has sent in a second appeal to the U.S. Court of Criminal Appeals and has also sent a petition of clemency to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry, Foster's last hope.
"What is amazing in this case is that we're going to put to death someone who didn't kill anybody," said Hampton.
Foster's family and supporters along with the Coalition to End the Death Penalty began the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign on May 30, after the date had been set for his execution. The group started a Web site called
www.freekenneth.com that gives details about the case and features some of Foster's poetry.
"Kenneth is an incredible, eloquent, poet, writer, speaker political activist," said Mario Africa, one of the speakers. "He's not somebody who's just saying 'f the police' or 'this is messed up' or 'that's messed up.' This brother has an analysis that has considerable depth."
Among the speakers at the at the protest were Shujaa Graham and Darby Tillis, two exonerated death row prisoners.
"History tells us that struggle can call the system into question," said Cloud, who also referenced Kevin Cooper and Troy Davis as two other men who escaped execution.
Foster's family has been leading the fight to get him off death row and are the heart of the campaign, said UT graduate student Bryan McCann, who has been involved with several anti-death penalty groups.
"This isn't an innocence claim like any other," said McCann. "The state of Texas will be the first to admit Kenneth Foster killed no one."
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