John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs,...

John Gummer, UK Conservative MP, met county sheriffs, district attorneys and parole board members in Austin, Texas, to plea for the life of British born Jackie Elliott, on death row following a 1987 conviction for raping and murdering a woman. "He is my constituent. If you believe citizenship means anything you have to protect all those who hold it. Britain built an empire on the basis that you cannot lose your citizenship." Mr Gummer said. Mr Stafford-Smith, Elliot's current lawyer, saw the move as positive to his client's case in a time when the US was seeking international backing for the war in Iraq. He also described the American death penalty system as a lottery in which only those too poor to afford decent lawyers were executed. "If you have a competent lawyer, and resources, you will never end up on Death Row," Stafford-Smith said.