EXECUTED MAY 2002 

May 15, 2002

Mr. Gerald Garrett, Chairman
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
Price Daniel, Sr. Building
209 W. 14th Street, Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78701

Re: Ronford Styron

Dear Chairman Garrett:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we strongly urge you to stay the execution of Ronford Styron and commute his sentence to life in prison.  Mr. Styron is currently scheduled for execution on May 16, 2002.  His case merits this relief because of misstatements of law at trial, a conflict of interest, and the exceptional harm his execution would bring to his family.

First, the prosecution misstated the standard of proof required to grant a sentence of life imprisonment.  The correct standard allows a jury to avoid the imposition of death if the circumstances were ""sufficient.""  During voir dire, the prosecutors told eight jurors that the reduction of a capital sentence was only possible if the mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravating evidence.  Mr. Styron's defense did not object to these misstatements and did not correct them during the course of the trial.  Thus, a majority of the jurors were under the false impression that they were required to impose the death penalty unless Mr. Styron could present mitigating circumstances outweighing the facts surrounding his crime.  Under the correct standard, Mr. Styron's circumstances clearly could have satisfied the sufficiency requirement.

According to a licensed psychological associate and University of Texas professor, who recently examined Mr. Styron, his biological father abandoned him and his mother beat him with brooms or blocks of wood until he was bloodied and bruised.  His uncle and stepfather sexually abused him.  When Mr. Styron threatened to disclose his stepfather's abuse, his stepfather burned Mr. Styron's baby brother.  The psychological associate who thoroughly evaluated Mr. Styron states that such severe child abuse can fundamentally alter a child's psyche and distort his development.  Very few of these facts were disclosed at trial.

Second, Mr. Styron's defense attorney created a conflict of interest when he testified at Mr. Styron's trial to defend his reputation against charges that he had suborned a material witness in Mr. Styron's trial.  The prosecution's attack on the integrity of Mr. Styron's attorney caused the defense counsel to devote a large portion of his argument defending his own reputation, and not Mr. Styron.  The defense attorney's actions were prejudicial to Mr. Styron, effectively denying him his right to counsel.

Third, the execution of Mr. Styron would only compound the harm to his family.  The family suffered with Mr. Styron's killing of his son, but it has forgiven Mr. Styron for his actions.  Without exception, the family members have joined Mr. Styron's petition for clemency.  In addition, Mr. Styron has stayed in close contact with his daughter Amber Marie.  Amber's adoptive parents believe that Amber's relationship with her father is healthy and essential for her.  The execution of Mr. Styron would traumatize Amber severely.

The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and a violation of the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.  Our country is almost alone among advanced nations in continuing to use the death penalty.  The American Bar Association has urged a moratorium on executions.  Due to the glaring problems in Mr. Styron's case such as the misstatements of law and the conflict of interest with his attorney, and because of the additional pain his execution would cause to his family, we respectfully urge you to grant clemency to Mr. Styron.

Sincerely,

Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Captital Punishment Project

William Harrel
ACLU of Texas

Brooke S. Horiuchi*
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20044

*Admittance to District of Columbia Bar pending; supervision by James V. Dick, a member of the District of Columbia Bar.