June 15, 2002
By Fax
(404) 657-7332
Governor Roy E. Barnes
State Capitol Building
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
RE: Wallace Fugate
Dear Governor Barnes,
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge you to grant clemency to Wallace Fugate, scheduled for execution on June 18, 2002. There is a strong consensus that, if we are to have the death penalty, it must be reserved for the worst of the worst cases and arbitrary factors should not determine who is sentenced to die.
Yet this case does not meet that standard. Mr. Fugate was not sentenced to death because his crime was among the worst, but because he had the worst lawyer and the worst luck to be charged in a district where the local District Attorney had a policy of seeking capital punishment relentlessly.
Given the facts, including serious questions about whether the tragic death in this case was murder or an accident, it is very likely that Mr. Fugate would not have been sentenced to death if he had been appointed another lawyer or the case had been tried in another locality.
Mr. Fugate's case is far less aggravated than other cases in which the defendant was executed
Mr. Fugate was sentenced to death for shooting Pattie Fugate during an altercation.
He asserts that the shooting was a tragic accident and not murder. Mr. Fugate's assertion is supported by substantial evidence that the jury did not hear because his lawyers failed to properly investigate the case. Moreover, Mr. Fugate has no prior criminal record.
Of all the executions in Georgia since 1973, twelve of those executed had committed multiple murders in their lifetime. Twelve had committed murder in connection with a robbery, six had committed rape or sexually assaulted their victims, five had killed a child, three cases involved prolonged torture of the victims, and two had killed police officers. All of these previous executions are for crimes far more aggravated than that charged to Mr. Fugate.
Mr. Fugate's lawyer's failed to mount an adequate defense
Mr. Fugate was given a hearing that can hardly be referred to as a ""fair trial."" His trial lasted for only two days and the arguments in his defense lasted only 27 minutes. Twenty-seven minutes is not adequate time for a defense hearing in an average felony trial. In a capital trial where the life of a human being is at stake, 27 minutes is inexcusable.
The two lawyers assigned to defend Mr. Fugate failed to call important witnesses who would testify on Mr. Fugate's behalf, and failed to hire experts to research and investigate pertinent facts relating to Mr. Fugate's case. Out of a list of 35 witnesses provided by Mr. Fugate, the defense attorneys called only one to the stand. The gun (which Mr. Fugate maintains was fired by mistake) was later investigated and found to have come from a faulty manufacturer, meaning that it could have easily been fired unintentionally. The defense attorneys made no effort to find an expert who could have discovered this flaw in the gun.
The decision to seek the death sentence in Mr. Fugate's case is based on the arbitrary policy of the local DA
Lastly, Mr. Fugate's death sentence was sought by District Attorney, Joe Briley who was known for over-reaching in capital cases and seeking the death penalty at every possible opportunity. Mr. Briley's controversial practices resulted in an extraordinarily high rate of reversals and casts more doubt on the reliability of the death sentence in this case.
The death penalty must operate without flaw. We cannot ignore the many serious problems in this case. We urge you to do all that is in your power to prevent this execution from going forward.
Respectfully submitted,
Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project
Ms. Debbie Seagraves
Executive Director
ACLU of Georgia
