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Dear all (r)



Leroy Joseph "Ricky" Drayton was executed in South Carolina on Friday 12 November (see below).
He was the 85th person who was executed in the USA this year, and the 585th since USA resumed executions in January 1977. 
I would like to thank all those that have send appeals.
Warm wishes, 
Anja van Dijk
Co-ordinator Burma desk, AI Dutch section
Lamp of Hope, Dutch section
Gashouderstraat 9
1815 BC Alkmaar
the Netherlands
tel/fax: +31 72 5121294
e-mail: ajsloot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
icq: 4683603
url: http://www.angelfire.com/al/homepageas/index.html (AI Burma desk)
http://www.angelfire.com/al/homepageas/LampofHope.html (Lamp of Hope)

 Nov. 12, 1999---

SOUTH CAROLINA:      (execution)
A man who was twice convicted and sentenced to death for kidnapping and murdering a 19-year-old gas station clerk was executed by injection Friday. 
Leroy Joseph "Ricky" Drayton, 44, fatally shot Rhonda Darlene Smith near an abandoned coal trestle on Feb. 11, 1984. 
Several witnesses said they saw Drayton and Smith drive up to the Kaye gas station where she worked. They said Smith opened the store and helped customers, and neither she nor Drayton appeared nervous. 
But prosecutors said Drayton later robbed the store of more than $300 and kidnapped Smith. 
Drayton told police Smith stole the money and gave it to him and that she went with him to the coal trestle voluntarily. He said he accidentally shot her when he tripped and his .357-caliber pistol fired, hitting Smith in the forehead. 
Drayton's 1st conviction was reversed after the state Supreme Court ruled that jurors should have been told to decide whether Drayton's statement to police was voluntary. He was convicted again at retrial. 
Drayton becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death in South Carolina this year, and the 23rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Jan. 10m, 1986.  South Carolina carried out 7 executions last year.
Drayton also becomes the 85th condemned inmate to be put to death in the USA this year, and the 585th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.
(sources:  Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

SOUTH CAROLINA: (impending execution) 
After 15 years on death row, Leroy Joseph "Ricky" Drayton, twice convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a 19-year-old Charleston County gas station clerk, is to be executed by lethal injection Friday. 
The body of Rhonda Darlene Smith was found near an abandoned coal trestle along the Cooper River in February 1984. 
She had a 5-month-old child and was the sister of former state Rep. Sandi Wofford, who later worked to get passage of a victims' bill of rights and is a victim's advocate for state Attorney General Charlie Condon. 
Wofford did not want to be interviewed, attorney general's spokesman Robb McBurney said. 
Several witnesses said they saw Drayton, who now is 44 years old, and Smith drive up to the Kaye gas station where she worked early on Feb. 11, 1984. They said Smith opened the store and helped customers, and neither she nor Drayton appeared nervous or distressed. 
But prosecutors said Drayton later robbed the store and kidnapped Smith. Drayton told police she was the one who stole more than $300 and offered it to him. 
He also said she voluntarily went with him to the coal trestle, where he tripped and the .357-caliber pistol he had accidentally fired, hitting Smith between the eyes 
The conviction was reversed by the state Supreme Court a year later. The jurors should have been told to decide whether Drayton's statement to police was voluntary, the court said. 
Drayton was not allowed to see his mother or a lawyer while he was being questioned by police, said one of his lawyers, John Blume. 
Drayton was convicted again at his retrial and last month the U.S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear his appeal. 
"The idea that she would be snatched from her workplace and driven to this desolate area late at night - the terror she must have suffered," said Condon, who was the local prosecutor in Charleston both times ack, aged 44
>
>Ricky Drayton is scheduled for execution this evening, 12 November 1999, in 
>South Carolina. He was sentenced to death for the February 1984 murder of 
>Rhonda Darlene Smith.
>Evidence raised by Ricky Drayton's appeal lawyers casts doubt on the state's 
>version of what happened in February 1984.   According to the prosecution, 
>Ricky Drayton robbed Rhonda Darlene Smith at gunpoint, abducted, and finally 
>killed her.  The state maintained that Ms Smith and Ricky Drayton were 
>strangers to each other.   However, the appellate team's evidence indicates 
>that the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and supports the petitioner's 
>claim that the shooting was accidental.
>The appeal lawyers point to the failure of defence counsel to adequately 
>investigate the relationship between the victim and the petitioner prior to 
>the shooting, or to challenge the state's forensic evidence of the shooting. 
> Furthermore, the trial lawyer failed to conduct any examination into Ricky 
>Drayton's mental condition at the time of the crime.   Despite being aware 
>of his client's learning disabilities and psychological problems, he chose 
>not to investigate any such mitigating evidence, leaving the jurors unable 
>to take it into account when deliberating between life and death for the 
>defendant.
>RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send faxes:
>* expressing concern that Leroy Joseph 'Ricky' Drayton is scheduled for 
>execution later today;
>* noting that his appeal lawyers have thrown doubt on the state's claims 
>that the murder was a deliberate, premeditated shooting, and have raised 
>serious questions about the competency of the defendant's trial counsel;
>* expressing concern that the jury were left unaware of Ricky Drayton's 
>learning disabilities and psychological problems;
>* urging the Governor to exercise his power of executive clemency by 
>commuting the death sentence against Ricky Drayton.
>
>APPEALS TO:
>The Honourable Jim Hodges
>Governor of South Carolina
>Columbia
>South Carolina
>Fax: 1 803 734 9413
>Salutation: Dear Governor
>
>
>PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY
>This information is from Amnesty International's research headquarters in 
>London, England. A.I. is an independent worldwide movement working for the 
>international protection of human rights. It seeks the release of people 
>detained because of their beliefs, color, sex, ethnic origin, language or 
>religious creed, provided they have not used nor advocated violence. These 
>are termed prisoners of conscience. It works for fair and prompt trials for 
>all political prisoners and works on behalf of such people detained without 
>charge or trial. It opposes the death penalty, extra-judicial executions 
>(political killings), 'disappearances' and torture or other cruel, inhuman 
>or degrading treatment or punishment of all prisoners without reservation. 
>Amnesty International promotes awareness of and adherance to the Universal 
>Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally recognized human 
>rights instruments, the values enshrined in them and the indivisibility and 
>interdependence of all !
>human rights and freedoms.

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