alion/Pags 1
:fnber8,1!
Battalion/Page 5
December 8, 1982
f
oes of death penalty
p Texas cities
sites of vigils
protest execution
pe of failint
or a shorHi
:hen go 011
)les for a k I
id. If they®
ISC, theyj United Press International
line and '^Several groups and indi-
ughthej ftfuals opposed to capital pun-
iishment held vigils across Texas
an unite Monday night for Charlie
lid, can uyBrooks, the country’s first in-
ne andontMate to be put to death by lethal
injection.
■ A quiet group of about 100
that theK|fe 0 p| e stood outside the Texas
i by thetojjipitol in Austin, many with
trfailuresi candles and shivering in the cold
;em usedas a representative of
are no im: Rinesty International
ge the iMt annoU nced Brooks’ execution
^shortly after 12:10 a.in.
■“Amnesty International is
Bposed without reservation to
the death penalty everywhere,”
I U said representative Michael
A w Madden, 28, a University of
O fP xas graduate student. “The
I candles show the hope that this
I n He execution) won’t happen.
I V Hi with A.I., but we’re Texans
^ ton. When Texas kills, it kills in
our name.”
: HSkadden earlier had urged
al the crowd to stay until Charlie
Prior executions
arch
Brooks was executed or given a
reprieve.
A spectator, Lawrence
Reichard, 24, said the execution
made him feel disgusted.
“It makes me kinda sick of my
country,” he said. “The death
penalty is unconstitutional be
cause it is cruel, but certainly not
unusual. Who gave the state the
right to play God?”
The group, which also in
cluded members of the Amer
ican Civil Liberties Union, sang
a few choruses of “Amazing
Grace” following the announce
ment and then dispersed.
About 35 people attended a
10 p.m. vigil in Dallas at Holy
Cross Catholic Church. There
were no speeches.
In Houston, about 40 people
opposed to the execution held
an hour-long service they called
a “celebration of God” at St.
James Episcopal Church.
Each person was given a can
dle, which was lit by a candle
nthusiastin |
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ely prompt: P
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for esiai p
vf’s crei 1
e industry ( I
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$1 million if
foraeros]
arch,
aircraft
>int of the
that type
killed when
iTV tower falls
United Press International
IISSOURI CITY — A huge
,, Jmillion metal television tower
re . ^■lapsed Tuesday killing five
cu people and injuring three others
[it eimg «- ^ iwere working on the device.
r/SFort Bend Sheriffs Sgt. Joe
'F " e ' Jell'rey said the tower, located in
nee eve "H e ld on the edge of Missouri
fly southwest of Houston, col-
Msed about 10:45 a.m. Offi-
Bls said the accident occurred
■ workmen were putting the
■al antenna on the tower,
Ihich was 2,049 feet tall.
■The final portion of the tow-
a $2 million antenna, was
Ing placed on top when a cable
apparently snapped. The falling
antenna broke a guy wire which
sjpported the tower, a spokes
man for the tower’s owner
id.
The names of the dead were
apt available.
“But theff e ^ re F sa ' c * t F> e three injured
pikers were taken by ambu-
t pensive. rf e to local hos P it als/
ellnesscl*™ unt l erst and that the tow-
p by
umerousp
iow the
ial is quiltf
i in studeK
^did collapse while men were
i month.IW on it,” Jef frey said
a studeiiP he t neta * tower is owned by
ifthevi^conglomerate of nine Houston
m symptoi»| , i(
i the list, tf
EM radio stations and television
station KTXH, channel 20,
which began using it two weeks
ago.
A spokesperson for the own
er, Senior Road Tower Group,
said only the television station
was utilizing the structure at this
time. The entire project was
valued at $7 million.
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Day students get their news from the Batt.
United Press International
Others to die since the high
court lifted its ban on the
death penalty in 1976:
— Gar)' Mark Gilmore, 36,
killed bv a firing squad Jan.
17, 1977, at Point of the
Mountain, Utah, was con
victed of murdering a Provo,
Utah, motel clerk. He refused
to appeal the conviction and
twice attempted suicide.
—Jesse Walter Bishop, 46,
was executed Oct. 22, 1979, in
the gas chamber in Carson
City, Nev., for killing a Balti
more man in Las Vegas.
— John Spenkeiink, 30,
died May 25, 1979, in the elec-
inside the church and then car
ried outside for the service.
“After 18 years we are once
again faced with the beginning
of barbarity by the state,” said
the Rev. James L. Tucker, rector
of the church. “We are here to
show mercy for those who can
not afford the Racehorse
Haynes or who have the money
to afford such lawyers.”
John Vodicka of New
Orleans, director of the
Louisiana branch of the South
ern Coalition on Jails and Pris
ons, a prolife group in opposi
tion to capital punishment, told
the group prior to the execution
that he was certain God would
not be pleased.
Henry Schwarzschild, dire
ctor of tlie capital punishment
project for the ACLU, said the
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trie chair at Starke, Fla., for
murdering a male traveling
companion in 1973.
— Steven T. Judy, 24, was
electrocuted March 9, 1981, at
Indiana State Prison for the
rape and murder of a young
mother and the drowning of
her three children.
— Frank Coppola, 38, a
former Portsmouth, Va.,
policeman, was electrocuted
Aug. 10, 1982, at Virginia
State Penitentiary in Rich
mond for the 1978 murder of
a Newport woman. The Sup
reme Court, in a 5-2 vote,
overturned a lower court’s
stay of execution.
state has taught the community
a dangerous lesson by the execu
tion.
“The state of Texas has now
resumed the practice of official
homicide,” Schwarzschild said.
“The execution of Brooks for
a crime for which his equally
guilty co-defendant serves a 40-
year sentence of imprisonment,
again demonstrates that this
society cannot adminster capital
punishment rationally, fairly or
without arbitrariness and discri
mination.”
Brooks’ family mad
about limited visits
United Press International
HUNTSVILLE — Family
members were bitter about the
way the Texas Department of
Corrections restricted their visit
ing privileges with Charlie
Brooks, the man put to death
early Tuesday and the first man
executed in the United States by
lethal injection.
Brooks’ ex-wife, Joyce
Brooks, and her two sons, Der
rick, 21, and Adrian, 20, were
not allowed to visit Brooks Mon
day. The sons said they were not
told until it was too late that they
could have visited their father
on his last day.
“We didn’t know we could see
him. Someone called us and told
us we could see him at 11
(p.m.),” Adrian explained. “We
got up here, and they (TDC offi
cials) said they didn’t know what
the hell was going on.”
Brooks was pronounced
dead at 12:16 a.m. Tuesday fol
lowing his execution for the
1976 slaying of used car mecha
nic David Gregory of Fort
Worth. Brooks’ family was not
allowed to watch.
His sons admitted they were
offended that they were not
allowed to watch their father
die.
“A news reporter saw it,”
Derrick complained. “I didn’t
get to see it, and I’m his flesh and
blood.”
Adrian Brooks said TDC offi
cials misled the family about
visiting privileges, then gave re
latives impossible restrictions.
“They didn’t even tell us until
2 (p.m.) that we could see him,”
Adrian said.
Officials then told the family
they had to be at the prison be
fore 5 p.m., he added. “It’s a
three hour drive.”
“Vanessa (Sapp, the woman
who last week exchanged un
official wedding vows with
Brooks) and that guy Sharrieff
(Larry, an Islamic preacher
from Fort Worth) were the only
two relatives allowed to see the
execution,” Adrian said.
Sharrieff said Brooks died
“very peacefully. I’ve never seen
a person who died so peace
fully.”
While Sharrieff watched,
Brooks’ family waited in a prison
lobby near the entrance. They
sat for at least an hour in
wooden chairs and were visible
at times through glass doors to
protestors and witnesses who
gathered outside.
Both sons wept openly.
Even after the execution,
Joyce Brooks insisted her ex-
husband was innocent.
“He didn’t do that crime,” she
said. “I feel sorry for the dead
man’s family. Don’t get me
wrong. I have sympathy for
them, but Charlie didn’t kill that
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Nov. 18-Dec. 17
Applications Due:
Tues. Jan. 25, 1983
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