Jan. 21, 2005,
4:27PM
Death penalty opponent heads to jailAssociated Press
Chronicle file David Atwood
stands in front of the Walls Unit of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, where the death chamber is located in
Huntsville in this February 2004 photo.
| HUNTSVILLE -- A death penalty
opponent arrested for trespassing outside the Huntsville prison
where executions are carried out will spend five days in the Walker
County Jail rather than pay a fine.
David Atwood, who heads the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death
Penalty, was arrested in November during a protest at the execution
of inmate Anthony Fuentes.
Atwood, from Houston, chose jail over a $500 fine to "express his
opposition to the death penalty and avoid paying any money to the
county," the Texas Civil Rights Project said today.
Attorneys from the organization represented Atwood in court in
Walker County.
Jim Harrington, the legal group's director, called Atwood's
decision to engage in civil disobedience "an act of conscience that
should stir Texans to further reflect on the justice of capital
punishment and whether too many innocent people have been executed
by mistake or malice."
|
