Stay of execution
Miller-El scores a victory against racism
By Gloria Rubac
Houston
He was to be executed on Feb. 21, the anniversary of the
assassination of Malcolm X. Demonstrations had been scheduled
for that day in Texas cities as well as in Oslo, Copenhagen,
London, Madrid and Paris.
But six days earlier, Thomas Miller-El received word that
the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to hear his case.
His family and supporters around the world breathed a
collective sigh of relief and let out cries of joy as word
spread via the Internet.
"This is indeed a happy day," said his wife, Dorothy
Miller-El, just hours after getting word about the stay. "But
the struggle has not stopped. Please continue your support,"
she told a packed hall on Feb. 15 at Rice University in
Houston. Supporters, students and death penalty abolitionists
had gathered just hours after the Supreme Court notice to watch
a film about Miller-El and two others entitled "La Espalda del
Mundo"--"The Back of the World."
Miller-El has been on death row for 16 years. He was
convicted of the killing of a Dallas motel clerk during a
robbery. Supporters say he wasn't even in the city at the
time.
This was his 12th execution date. During 1994-95, the state
of Texas set execution dates one after the other. Within hours
of being killed, Miller-El would get a 30-day or a 90-day stay.
This psychological torture went on for over a year.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Miller-El charged that
Dallas prosecutors employed racist jury selection tactics to
keep African Americans off his jury in 1985. The court may use
this case to clarify rules for claiming racial discrimination
in jury selection.
Racist jury selection
A study conducted by the Dallas Morning News in 1986
revealed that Miller-El was one of 15 men sentenced to death in
Dallas County between 1980 and 1986. Of the 15 cases, five
involved Black defendants. All except Miller-El were tried by
all-white juries. His jury consisted of 11 whites and one
Black, after the prosecution used peremptory challenges to
exclude 10 of the 11 African Americans accepted on the
panel.
The only Black the prosecution left on Miller-El's jury said
of executions: "It's too quick. They don't feel the pain."
Miller-El's case has drawn national and international
attention. The NAACP and LULAC, two of the oldest civil rights
organizations in the country, representing African Americans
and Latinos, respectively, presented the clemency appeal to the
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, along with Miller-El's
attorneys.
Miller-El attorney Jim Marcus says that "It is rare that you
have a case in which there is such compelling evidence of a
pattern and practice of race discrimination in selection of
jurors. It's very well documented in this case."
His brief to the Supreme Court cited a treatise by Dallas
county prosecutors in which they had warned against letting
"Jews, Negroes, Dagos and Mexicans" serve on a jury, no matter
how much money they earned. Another memorandum dated 1969 and
used to train prosecutors advised, "You are not looking for any
member of a minority group--they almost always empathize with
the accused."
Critically ill during trial
Another issue raised before the Supreme Court was
Miller-El's health at the time of his trial, which did not
allow him to take part in the trail or even communicate with
his attorneys. Miller-El was arrested in Houston in November
1985 by a SWAT team that ambushed him and began shooting.
Miller-El told this reporter that as he was lying on the ground
bleeding, he could hear one of the cops say, "Is the n-----
dead? If he ain't, kill him!"
After 52 days of inpatient treatment in a Houston hospital,
including two surgeries, Miller-El was transferred to the
Dallas County Jail and tried 19 days later. When discharged
from the hospital, his medical condition was listed as critical
because he had a double-barreled colostomy--where two openings
are made into the colon--plus many bullet fragments in his
abdomen. He arrived at the Dallas County Jail in a weakened,
anemic state, susceptible to recurrent infections.
He continued to experience severe complications during and
after his trial. He was hospitalized several times during the
trial, prompting requests for medical evaluations from the
trial court. But the trial proceeded without pause. Back in the
courtroom, Miller-El suffered complications with the colostomy
and infections from the gunshot wound, which was oozing green
liquid. He also had pneumonia and was so weak he could barely
whisper to his attorneys.
The evening after his conviction, Miller-El was sent to the
emergency room at Parkland Hospital and treated for a small
bowel obstruction. He appeared in the courtroom the next
morning for sentencing.
On Dec. 20, 1985, one month after he was shot, he weighed
153 pounds. Miller-El is 6 feet, 5 inches tall and had weighed
235 pounds before his arrest. He had lost 82 pounds in four
weeks.
Miller-El will remain on death row until the Supreme Court
hears his case. He told a reporter that he was writing his last
statement when he got word about the stay of execution. "I
don't think anyone will ever get to hear it, now," he said.
For more information about this case and conditions on
Texas's death row, see the Web page www.thomasmillerel.com.
To send a message of support, write to: Thomas Miller-El
#000834, Polunsky Unit, 12002 FM 350 South, Livingston, TX
77351.
Reprinted from the Feb. 28, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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