Frances Newton
Frances Elaine Newton (April 12, 1965 – September 14, 2005) was an African American woman executed by lethal injection in the state of Texas for the April 7, 1987 murder of her husband, Adrian, 23, her son, Alton, 7, and daughter, Farrah, 21 months. She became the first African American woman executed in Texas since a slave named Lucy was hanged March 5, 1858 in Galveston County for murder.
All three victims were shot with a .25 caliber pistol that belonged to Newton's boyfriend. Newton admits taking it to the apartment on the night of the killings but says that it was for her own protection. The prosecution suggested that the motive for the killings was to collect the US$100,000 life insurance policy. Newton said that a drug dealer killed the three. It was apprently known to the police that her husband, Adrian Newton, was a drug dealer and was in debt to his supplier. However this possibility was never investigated. She always maintained her innocence, right to the end.
Two hours before her scheduled execution on December 1 2004 Texas Governor Rick Perry granted a 120-day reprieve to allow more time for investigations into whether she received a fair trial. It is argued that her court-appointed attorney Ron Mock, was incompetent (he has had five professional misconduct charges brought against him and is barred from practising until late 2007), and that the original investigation was questionable. There are conflicting reports as to whether a second gun was recovered from the scene; however, ballistics reports tie her gun to the murders. A relative of Newton who was incarcerated claims his cellmate boasted of killing the family. Numerous individuals, including three members of the convicting jury, have expressed concern over evidence that was not presented during the trial.
On August 24, 2005, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals turned down a motion for a stay of execution. It turned down another appeal on September 9 for writ of habeas corpus. It was her fourth application.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 7-0 on September 12 to not recommend her sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. The same day the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused an appeal of her sentence. Her new attorney, David Dow also asked Governor Perry for a 30-day stay to prove that Newton was wrongly linked to the murder weapon. The Supreme Court of the United States declined without dissent two appeals on September 13.
The execution was carried out as scheduled on September 14, 2005, making Frances Newton the third woman executed in Texas since the resumption of capital punishment in the state in 1982. The first and second were Karla Faye Tucker and Betty Lou Beets, respectively.
Newton made no final statement and did not have a last meal request. Just over 30 protesters from the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, the National Black United Front, and the New Black Panther Party had gathered outside the prison.
See also
References
- "Lawyers fight execution of black woman in Texas". August 26 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Texas Woman Faces Execution Despite Questions Regarding Her Guilt". August 25, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Newton maintains her innocence, keeps hope". August 25, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Without Evidence: Executing Frances Newton". September 9, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Woman's execution remains on schedule". September 9, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Newton's attorneys ask Perry for a 30-day delay". September 13, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - "Texas executes black woman for murdering family". September 14, 2005.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|org=ignored (help) - Offender information from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved September 3 2005.
- NCADP Report NCADP report.
