] In his five years as governor of Texas, the state has ] executed 131 prisoners -- far more than any other state. ] Mr. Bush has lately granted a stay of execution for the ] first time, for a DNA test. ] ] In answer to questions about that record, Governor Bush ] has repeatedly said that he has no qualms. "I'm ] confident," he said last February, "that every person ] that has been put to death in Texas under my watch has ] been guilty of the crime charged, and has had full access ] to the courts." ] ] That defense of the record ignores many notorious ] examples of unfairness in Texas death penalty cases. ] Lawyers have been under the influence of cocaine during ] the trial, or been drunk or asleep. One court dismissed a ] complaint about a lawyer who slept through a trial with ] the comment that courts are not "obligated to either ] constantly monitor trial counsel's wakefulness or ] endeavor to wake counsel should he fall asleep." ] ] ] This past week The Chicago Tribune published a compelling ] report on an investigation of all 131 death cases in ] Governor Bush's time. It made chilling reading. ] ] ] In one-third of those cases, the report showed, the ] lawyer who represented the death penalty defendant at ] trial or on appeal had been or was later disbarred or ] otherwise sanctioned. In 40 cases the lawyers presented ] no evidence at all or only one witness at the sentencing ] phase of the trial. And the article goes on to list even more facts about the lawyers and trials that are just stunningly abhorrent. I think I'll pass on moving to Texas anytime soon. Texas Executions: GW Bush Has Defined Himself, Unforgettably, As Shallow And Callous |