URGENT ACTION: PLEASE appeal to Md Gov re: Wesley Baker!

[nofurylike]

From Amnesty International:

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510652002?open&of=ENG-2AM

PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 51/189/2005
25 November 2005

UA 296/05 Death Penalty

USA Wesley Eugene Baker (m), black

Wesley Baker is scheduled to be executed in Maryland during the week beginning 5 December 2005, for the 1991 murder of a white woman, Jane Frances Tyson.

Jane Tyson was shot in the head at point-blank range on 6 June 1991, as she was getting into her car at a shopping mall. A passer-by pursued a vehicle with two occupants which sped from the scene, noted its registration number and called the police. Driver Gregory Baker and passenger Wesley Baker were arrested after a chase. In Maryland, only the actual murderer can be sentenced to death. Wesley Baker was charged as the gunman. He was sentenced to death on 30 October 1992. Gregory Lawrence was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Doubts have been raised about whether Wesley Baker was the actual gunman. The victim's six-year-old grandson, who was present at the attack, indicated that the man who shot his grandmother ran to the driver's side of the getaway vehicle. The man who pursued the vehicle identified Wesley Baker as being on the passenger side. Blood from Jane Tyson was found on Baker, but Lawrence's clothing was not tested. There were fingerprints from Baker's right hand on Tyson's car. However, as the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit noted in 2000, ''one must wonder how it was possible for to hold the gun to Tyson's head and leave his fingerprints on the , especially in light of the fact that the incident took only a matter of moments.'' It emerged after Baker's trial that Gregory Lawrence had a history of armed robberies, including a carjacking in which he had held a gun to the victim's head.

In denying Baker’s appeal in July 2000, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals admitted that ''the evidence that Baker shot Tyson was not overwhelming''. The United Nations Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty state that ''capital punishment may only be imposed when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.''

Wesley Baker was the subject of two previous UAs: UA 98/01 (AMR 51/059/2001, 12 April 2001) and EXTRA 33/02 (AMR51/065/2002, 29 April 2002).

(emphases mine)

PLEASE FAX APPEALS TO:
Governor Robert L Ehrlich Jr
Office of the Governor
Fax: [phone]
Salutation: Dear Governor

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of the USA accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

***
Baker's Background Takes Center Stage In Appeal
by Mike Hellgren
Dec 3, 2005

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_335152634.html

(WJZ) Baltimore, MD A day after a federal court rejected Wesley Baker's appeal for stay of execution on Maryland's death row, the Maryland Court of Appeals also denied stopping the execution, which is scheduled to occur next week.

-snip-

In recent days, Baker's lawyers have prepared hundreds of pages in appeals, and they reveal shocking details about his background, including the claim that Baker was the product of rape.

It goes onto say that he was living on the streets of Baltimore by the time he was 8-years-old, and by 12 he'd overdosed on heroin.

-snip-

"The easy or short answer is there's a lot of information about Mr. Baker's upbringing that wasn't presented to the trial judge that should have been,"Michael Lawlor, Baker's attorney, tells Hellgren.

-snip-

***

Despite being aware that it would aid in his defense, Mr Baker would not allow the traumatizing circumstances of his life to be applied to his defense, because he would not allow his mother to be subjected to the humiliation.

One report says that Mr Baker still has an appeal in progress. Another says he does not. THIS IS EXTREMELY URGENT!

PLEASE EMAIL GOVERNOR EHRLICH IMMEDIATELY:

http://www.gov.state.md.us/mail/


Thank you!


peace!