Rocky Myers bliver beskrevet som mild og venlig af dem, der kender ham. Han elsker sine søskende, børn og børnebørn, og de elsker ham. Han spiller trommer i sit kirkekor. I en alder af 11 år blev Rocky diagnosticeret med et intellektuelt handicap. Han har svært ved at læse og kan ikke holde styr på datoer eller tiden. En nat i 1991i byen Decatur i Alabama, blev hans liv ændret for altid.
En ældre hvid kvinde blev myrdet i et overvejende sort nabolag. Rocky, som er sort, boede på den anden side af gaden. Det eneste, der forbandt ham med mordstedet, var en videoafspiller, der tilhørte den myrdede. Rocky vedholder, at han fandt den efterladt på gaden, men han blev alligevel dømt for mordet.
Vidneforklaringerne var præget af manglende sammenhæng og anklager om politipres. Et hovedvidne udtalte senere, at han havde løjet. En overvældende hvid jury fandt ham skyldig, men anbefalede fængsel på livstid. Dommeren underkendte juryen og dømte Rocky til døden – en praksis, som er ulovlig i dag i Alabama.
USA’s højesteret fandt, at anklagede med svære intellektuelle handicap “er i særlig risiko for at blive uskyldigt henrettet”. Dette er i hvert fald sandt for Rocky. Han fik langt fra ordentlig juridisk hjælp, og efter dommen blev han droppet af sin advokat og missede derfor mulighederne for appel. Han kan blive henrettet når som helst, og hans eneste håb er, at Alabamas guvernør benåder ham.
Fortæl Alabamas guvenør, at han skal benåde Rocky Myers.
Rocky Myers is described by those who know him as gentle and kind. He loves his siblings, children, and grandchildren, and they adore him. He played drums in his church choir. At age 11, Rocky was diagnosed with an intellectual disability. He finds reading hard and can’t keep dates or times straight in his head. One night in 1991, in the town of Decatur, Alabama, his life changed forever.
An elderly white woman was murdered in a predominantly Black neighbourhood. Rocky, who is Black, lived across the street. Despite no evidence linking him to the scene of the murder, except for a video cassette recorder belonging to the victim which Rocky maintains he found abandoned in the street, Rocky was convicted of the crime.
Testimonies were tainted by inconsistencies and allegations of police pressure – one key witness later stated that he had lied. An overwhelmingly white jury found him guilty but recommended a sentence of life imprisonment. The judge overruled the jury, sentencing Rocky to death – a practice that is now illegal in Alabama.
The US Supreme Court ruled that defendants with intellectual disabilities “face a special risk of wrongful execution”. This is certainly true for Rocky. Burdened with ineffective legal representation and abandoned by his post-conviction lawyer, Rocky missed deadlines for appeal. His execution could be scheduled at any time, and his only hope is for the governor of Alabama to grant him clemency.
Tell the governor of Alabama to grant clemency to Rocky Myers.
Artikel 10
Enhver har under fuld ligeberettigelse krav på en retfærdig og offentlig behandling ved en uafhængig og upartisk domstol, når der skal træffes en afgørelse med hensyn til hans rettigheder og forpligtelser og med hensyn til en hvilken som helst mod ham rettet strafferetslig anklage.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by
an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him