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LEAD-IN BY HOST: For over a year now, a group of journalism students at the University of St. Thomas here in Houston have been taking a closer look at the case of Texas death row prisoner Anthony Graves. This Tuesday, four of the students attended an appeals hearing before the US 5th circuit court of appeals in New Orleans. KPFT News reporter Renee Feltz caught up with them afterwards to the case and why they chose to work on it: STORY: Senior journalism student at University of St. Thomas, Megan Foley knows death penalty cases and executions don't always get the attention they might deserve in Texas: "I would think it's safe to say that the majority of people don't even care anymore. They don't even realize that it's happening so frequently, it doesn't slow them down it doesn't make them think. And that just shocks me. I know that they'll have it in the newspaper, and they'll give the crime, and how long they've been on death row. And sometimes they'll give their last meal. But it just amazes me that we live in a society where it's not a big deal, it just goes by, and in Texas, it's like clockwork." Megan works with the Innocence Project, a nationwide network that assists prisoners with claims of innocence. She now focuses on the case of Texas death row prisoner Anthony Graves as part of a for-credit investigative journalism course. She and several other students work on media exposure and do footwork for the case. Graves was convicted in 1994 of taking part in the murder of a family of six in Somerville, Texas. He was fingered as an accomplice in the horrible crime by Robert Carter, who was also sentenced to death and has since been executed. Graves reportedly had an unprepared attorney during his original trial... Megan explains some of the other problems with his case: "His co-conspirator recanted and said Anthony had nothing to do with it, and in fact, his last words before he was executed was that 'Anthony had nothing to do with it, and I lied in ... court.' Other than that, there's no forensic evidence, there's no witnesses, there's no nothing. The other man in the case had burn marks, Anthony had no burn marks. Anthony had really no relations with this family. There's really no indication to say that Anthony is guilty of anything. And he had at least three alibi witnesses, who were there with him all night, who said he never left, he was home. So really there's no evidence to say that Anthony is guilty." Tuesday, part of Megan's class traveled to the 5th circuit court of appeals to hear oral arguments in the case and observe the judges' responses: "We really feel that the judges asked intelligent questions, the judges' asked the questions that needed to be asked. And that they really seemed concerned to the case, and concern for Anthony, which we took as a good sign." The justices asked the prosecution about a knife used to convict Graves, part of the physical evidence the state used in the original trial. Graves mother Doris, recalls the Fifth Circuit's line of questioning: "The knife that they confiscated was not the knife of my son's. It was the knife of a friend's that had given it to him. And they used it, you know, to supposedly compare the wounds to the knife. And they asked them 'Who's knife was it that y'all are comparing,' and they said, 'Well, it was his friend's,' and they said, 'You mean to tell me you did not confiscate the knife from Graves?' and the D.A. said 'No.' According to the prosecution Graves' motive for assisting in the murder was to seek revenge for one of the victim's being promoted over his mother for a job. Mrs. Graves disputes this claim: "That promotion came like three years before this murder case ever came up. And she and I did not have any animosity in our relationship about the job." With questionable physical evidence and motive, was the prosecution able to place Graves at the scene of the crime? Only based on Carter's testimony, since recanted. This may add weight to the testimony of Graves' brother, Arthur, who originally testified in support of Graves's alabi. Arthur recalls how on the night of the murders, he and Graves were up late talking while staying at his mother's house: "Anthony periodically came in and out of the room teasing me about the songs I sung to my girlfriend. He had bought a tape for me, Jonny Mathis. I was singing the songs to her. He loves Johnny Mathis, and I was singing songs to her and he would hear me, and come in and tease me about it." Was Graves just another young black man railroaded onto death row despite problems even placing him at the scene of the crime? One of the University of St. Thomas students working on Graves' case went to visit the prisoner on Death Row, partly to get a feel if he was guilty or innocent. She came away from the experience with a new understanding of the man: "We always hear about death row and we read about cases and we see the inmate's pictures on the paper. But it's different when you go there, he actually became a person. He said the last time he actually touched a person or gave someone a hug was his mom back when he was convicted, or before he was arrested, and that was back in '92." Now familiar Graves' case, how do Pearl Cajoles and Megan Foley and fellow student Gia Gustilo feel about his innocence claim: Cajoles "Yeah I think he's innocent." Foley: "I believe he's innocent." Gustillo: "I'm still not sure about his innocence or not, but I think, I think he deserved better than what he got. Based on the evidence placed against him, based on all the testimonies against him, it seemed like he had a really unfair trial. And I believe he deserves a new one." The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to rule in Anthony Graves case based on Tuesday's hearing sometime in the next six months. Renee Feltz, KPFT News, Houston
E-mail Renee Feltz at chickpea_@ziplip.com .
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