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Welcome to the November issue of The Last Word Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. In this Issue
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For Production Stills, Director Interview, Photo Gallery, Producers Comments, Audience Reactions, Media Reviews or to contact us please visit TheLastWordDocumentary.com ORDER DVD NOW!
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RE: FIRST WRONGFUL EXECUTION DOCUMENTARY IN AMERICA OR AMAZON.COM 
“A perfect example of how lazy lawyers, crooked politicians and asinine laws caused the system to fail. In Garrett’s case, the match got thrown early on. His own lawyers threw the case!” Jeff Blackburn
Nathan Shackleford
Millard Farmer [Mr. Farmer was Louisiana Death Row inmate Patrick Sonnier’s appellate attorney. Sean Penn portrayed Mr. Sonnier in Dead Man Walking.]
Bishop Emeritus Leroy Matthieson Bonita Gunden
Claudia Stuart
Aaron Phillips 
To: Fellow Anti-Death Penalty Advocates, NACDL/TTLA/TCDLA/ ATLA Members and University Faculty The Last Word is not only dramatically captivating but also possesses high educational and motivational value for Americans (potential jurors) who presently support the death penalty. Through interviews and investigation this documentary unravels the complexity of our criminal justice system and demonstrates how we (society) built and continue to perpetuate a seriously flawed “machine” void of constitutionally guaranteed safety nets for the innocent. Equally inspirational is the film’s powerful message to Christians who have been misled by extremists to misinterpret the Bible as supportive of the death penalty. The purpose of this email is to request your help by spreading the word about The Last Word (e.g. festival attendance; public screenings; classroom instruction; email forwards; home/church discussion groups; online chatter; etc.) The film is currently weaving across America on the film festival circuit. DVD copies are available at thelastworddocumentary.com and Amazon.com. Educational and library distribution is being handled by National Film Network- - nationalfilmnetwork.com. EXECUTIONS IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER Click here to view execution schedule in Texas for the next few months. This documentary takes the "Innocent Man on Texas Death Row" tale to a dark corner feared by all - - proving that an innocent man has been executed by the State. A clash between good and evil strikes up on the High Plains of Texas when Johnny Frank Garrett, a 17 year old retarded boy is arrested, convicted and ultimately executed for the Halloween night rape, mutilation and murder of Sister Tadea Benz. The 76 year old nun was attacked while she slept in her room at the St. Francis Convent in Amarillo, Texas. Garrett claimed his innocence from the time of his arrest until his dying breath. Sixteen years after Garrett's execution new evidence rose up from the cold case grave of the Amarillo Police Department proving they executed the wrong man! During interviews with key players the case of Johnny Frank Garrett unfolds like a recipe for executing the innocent. A death penalty obsessed District Attorney and his lap-dog medical examiner, ladder climbing cops, bloodthirsty media, enraged and fearful jurors, incompetent defense lawyers, politicized judges, witchhunting religious zealots and an ironfisted Governor with national ambitions meld together as perfect ingredients for a plate of government sponsored murder. In Garrett's final statement he professed his innocence one last time but did so in a voice driven by hate and vengeance. In his chilling conclusion Garrett promised those responsible for his murder that someday he would have the last word and they would pay for what they had done. For most of Garrett's enemies "someday" happened long ago. Regardless of faith, for or against the death penalty, liberal or conservative The Last Word compels viewers to feel not only the collective pain our societal conscience suffers for executing the innocent but also the individual fear of not knowing what margins of error our judges, jurors and executioners will find acceptable tomorrow. The Last Word has participated in the following film festivals in 2008. Buffalo Film Festival Legality 1. Is the Death Penalty Legal in the United States? After being suspended in 1972 because of a lack of national standards, the death penalty was declared constitutional (legal) again in 1976 with the provision that rigid statutes be used as a guide. Each state determines whether to permit the sentence of the death penalty. Thirty-six states currently have the death penalty. New Jersey became the first state in 40 years to abolish the death penalty in 2007. (DPIC)
The Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for juveniles in 2005 and declared it illegal to execute defendants with mental retardation in 2002. (DPIC)
No, the Supreme Court recently decided that the “3-drug cocktail” method of lethal injection does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” and is therefore constitutional.
A moratorium is a halt on executions for a certain time period. During a moratorium, detailed examinations of capital punishment laws and processes can take place. In a 2007 opinion poll by RT Strategies, 58% of respondents believed it was time for a moratorium on the death penalty, many of those supporting a moratorium also being supporters of the death penalty. (DPIC)
Death Row Executions
In 2008 there are 3,263 inmates on Death Row, with the largest rows in California (609), Florida (388) and Texas (370). (DPIC)
There have been 1,099 executions in the US since 1976, with a peak in 1999 of 98 executions. The largest number of executions since 1976, 405, took place in Texas, with 26 of those occurring in 2007. (DPIC)
In 2006 91% of all known executions took place in six countries: China (1,010), Iran (177), Pakistan (82), Iraq (65+), Sudan (65+), U.S. (53). American and Japan are the only post- industrial nations that impose the death penalty. (DPIC)
The percentage of Americans in support of the death penalty peaked in the mid-1990s. According to Pew Research Center surveys, support for the death penalty for persons convicted of murder has fluctuated within a relatively narrow range of 62% of 68% since 2001, while opposition has ranged from 24% to 32% during this time. A Pew survey from August 2007 finds that 62% of Americans favor the death penalty, while 32% oppose it and 6% are unsure. (DPIC)
According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the estimated cost of single death penalty cases from arrest to execution ranges from $1 to $3 million, compared to an estimated cost of life imprisonment, including incarceration cost of $500,000. The estimated average cost of a death penalty case in TX, according to The Dallas Morning News is $2.3 million. (DPIC)
36 of the states with the death penalty use lethal injection for executions. In 2008 Nebraska, the only state that used the electric chair as the exclusive form of execution, outlawed the use of the electric chair. Some states utilizing lethal injection have other methods available as back-ups. (DPIC)
A form of execution by lethal injection that involves three separate injections. The inmate is injected with sodium thiopental – an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate’s breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious. (DPIC)
Since 1973 over 120 people were released from death row with evidence of their innocence. From 1973-1999, there was an average of 3.1 exonerations per year. From 2000- 2007, there has been an average of 5 exonerations per year. (DPIC)
Until now, there has never been "uncontroverted proof" that an innocent person has been executed. No forum or legal standard exists for establishing such proof.
Three-quarters of Americans believe that an innocent person has been executed within recent years and that belief is resulting in lower levels of support for the death penalty, according to a 2005 study by the University of Cincinnati and Radford University. When life in prison without the possibility of parole was offered as an alternative sentence for capital murder, less than half of all Americans who believe an innocent person has been executed supported the death penalty.
Some of the most recent data focusing on religion and the death penalty has looked at the views of Christians, a group that comprises over three quarters of the American population. According to a 2004 Gallop Poll, individuals who self-identify as Protestants are somewhat more likely to endorse capital punishment that are Catholics and far more likely than those with no religious preference. The poll found that more than 7 of 10 Protestants (71%) support the death penalty, while 66% of Catholics support it and that 57% of those with no religious preference favor the death penalty for murder. A 2005 Zogby poll revealed that only 48% of Catholics now support the death penalty. A recent poll by NationalChristianPoll.com found that two thirds of active Christians who oppose the death penalty are concerned about judicial error that could lead to an innocent person being executed. The poll also found that of Christians who support the death penalty, 60% do so because of biblical teachings. According to a 2007 Pew Forum poll, the strongest supporters of the death penalty are white evangelicals, with 74% approval.
According to the American Friends Service Committee’s Criminal Justice Program, which maintains a list of faith and ethical group that are opposed to the death penalty, many groups are officially opposed to capital punishment, including American Baptists, American Ethical Union, American Friends Service Committee, America Jewish Committee, The Bruderhof Communities, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Disciples of Christ, Church of the Brethren, Church Women United, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Friends United Meeting, General Conference of General Baptists, General Conference of Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church, Moravian Church in America, Orthodox Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Rabbinical Assembly, Reformed Church in America, Reorganized Church, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and the United States Catholic Conference. The Southern Baptists and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have not taken a public position on the issue of capital punishment. The Qur’an supports the death penalty, but there is a strong tradition of mercy within the faith. Texas Moratorium Network Texas Students Against the Death Penalty Lamp of Hope Project Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty The Death Penalty Information Center The Advocates for Human Rights Citizens United for Alternative to the Death Penalty (CUADP) Ohioans to Stop Execution (OTSE) National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Fight the Death Penalty in USA Catholics Against Capital Punishment (CACP) Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) Campaign to End the Death Penalty Coloradans Against the Death Penalty The Moratorium Campaign New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty United States Against the Death Penalty The Peace Farm New England Death Penalty American Civil Liberties Union |
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