UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, intervened in the...
UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, intervened in the case of a British murderer on Death Row, Tracy Housel, when he rang the Governor of Georgia and requested a reprieve
UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, intervened in the case of a British murderer on Death Row, Tracy Housel, when he rang the Governor of Georgia and requested a reprieve.
Straw telephoned Governor Ray Barnes and asked that he commute Housel's sentence to life imprisonment. But Straw was informed that, unlike in many US states, the governor does not have the right to intervene. The only body that can now halt the execution is the state's Pardons and Parole Board, to which Straw has already written.
The death warrant for Housel, 43, who has been on Death Row for 16 years, was signed by a Georgia judge and the date for his execution by lethal injection was fixed for 12 March. This followed a decision by the US Supreme Court not to hear a final appeal.
Straw telephoned Governor Ray Barnes and asked that he commute Housel's sentence to life imprisonment. But Straw was informed that, unlike in many US states, the governor does not have the right to intervene. The only body that can now halt the execution is the state's Pardons and Parole Board, to which Straw has already written.
The death warrant for Housel, 43, who has been on Death Row for 16 years, was signed by a Georgia judge and the date for his execution by lethal injection was fixed for 12 March. This followed a decision by the US Supreme Court not to hear a final appeal.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Independent, 28/02/2002)