Texas executed Derrick Jackson yesterday. What a travesty!

Texas execution of Derrick Jackson shows the power of DNA

Derrick Jackson , 42, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening, July 20, 2010 in Huntsville, Texas.

There were no eyewitnesses who picked Jackson out of a lineup.  Instead it was DNA  and fingerprints which led determined law enforcement investigators to his prison cell door.

Jackson was already ensconced in the Texas prison system for three robbery convictions before he even became a suspect in the brutal murder of two Houston opera singers.

Tony Fox, Wichita Falls police department  detective who has solved many cases in Wichita Falls with DNA, recently praised the  the scientific tool as a means of solving cases.  Advances in DNA application to solving crimes has led to the solution of some of the most vicious murders in recent history. Some in Wichita County.

The use of familial DNA in California led to the arrest of a suspect in the Grim Sleeper murders in California. 

Fox said, "It would be great if we could use familial(family) DNA in Texas."

Before there was forensic DNA, investigators were severely limited.  The famous and as yet unsolved Zodiac Killer murders occurred before the application of DNA to criminal investigations.  Perhaps that case would've been solved long ago had there been DNA at the time.

A Texas jury in 1998 convicted Jackson for the murder of opera chorus singers Forrest Henderson and  Richard  Wrotenberry.  They recommended the death penalty for the 1988 slaying.

Henderson and Wrotenberry were both 31 at the time of their murders.  Wrotenberry was also a music teacher at a Deer Park public school.  When he didn't arrive at school, the principal contacted the landlord who discovered Wrotenberry's and Henderson's bloody bodies.  Blood was found all over the apartment.

Both victims' wallets had been stolen.  They were both beaten and slashed to death.

With no eyewitnesses the case went cold.  Jackson agreed to a 12-year prison sentence for three  unrelated robbery cases.  He was not even connected to the opera singers murder case until years later when DNA and a bloody fingerprint pointed to Jackson.

Then in 1995, seven years after the double homicide, law enforcement officials made a comparison between the bloody fingerprint on the apartment door and the DNA from inside the apartment to Jackson's DNA and fingerprints.  There was a match, according to testimony by experts at his trial.

Jackson claimed in an interview with the Associated Press the evidence against him was manufactured.

DNA's acceptance by juries has come a long way since the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles.  A jury there found him not guilty of two murders despite DNA evidence allegedly connecting the former football and movie star to the crime.  In that trial, defense attorney Johnny Cochran persuaded the jurors to find his client not guilty.

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CCADP- Derrick Jackson

It's hard to explain (especially here in Texas), but to be
honest, I personally would have preferred to have been murdered at the
time of sentencing.  I say this, not because I prefer to be dead (I
truly want to live with a passion).  I love life, but the appeals
process is no more than a torturous traumatizing path to a truly
saddenly sick end.  I believe in God, and believe me when I say that it
will be an "act of God" if I am ever to be a free man, but I do have
hope, and I pray.  I am a blessed man to have the insight that I do.  My
reality is a sick curse, for each and every individual it's different
(being on death row), but all of us are insane.  You have to lose a bit
of your sanity to maintain the rest of it, like a flu shot.  Every day I
accept the fact that it's OK for me to go just a little bit crazy to
keep from breaking down and losing it completely.

I don't have a wife or children, very much family, or many friends, and
it may seem strange to hear, but (for me) that's good, because of the
type of person that I am.  My existence is a very sick one.  Just last
night I got a visit from my younger brother.  I wrote him a letter a few
weeks ago being a bit desperate and demanding.that he come visit.  I
personally feel he should come every week, but I realize that no one
owes me nothing, and that he has a life to live in a crazy world.  He
told me I should write to my mother, father, step mother, and aunts
(most of them have never been to visit me) so that they could feel
guilty (I guess he was feeling guilty).  I would never try to make a
person feel guilty in this way, especially not those I love, even though
they seem to have forgotten about me or maybe just don't know how to
deal with seeing me here trapped in a miserable existence.  My two
younger brothers and my mother are all I can consider my family at this
point in my life.  I'm from a poor family, so there is very little
(nearly nothing) that they can do financially, but the moral support, no
matter how painful, is my reason for existence.  I feel their pain and
frustration, and I can see it in their eyes, but they are all I have,
and living daily in solitary confinement cells is another madness that a
man must deal with that has nothing to do with the death penalty.

Here on the Polunsky unit here in Livingston, Texas, extreme deprivation
is used to punish, control, and dehumanize a man.  Mental games are
played by most of the guards (including ranking officers) that a
prisoner daily comes in contact with.  You no longer have human and /or
civil rights.  Personally I've felt as if I am a part of a sick
experiment.  To have a healthy conscious mind is a beautiful gift to all
humans, and to use it is a gift to our world.  To attempt to take or
destroy this gift is criminal.  How can I say being a death row
prisoner?  What if I can tell you that I'm not guilty?  The fact is, I'm
not!!!  Another fact is that I can't prove it, and that's why I am
here!  Two people I know nothing of or about were brutally beaten and
stabbed to death - that was proven at my trial.  Politics' corruption,
me being poor, naive, ignorant to the unjust system in Texas is why I am
sitting here writing these words and not living as I should be, but
merely existing.

I feel that the justice system and society have let me down.  The
oppression that is my life, I cannot describe.  I won't let it control
me,  I can't, so at times, I go a little bit crazy, just so I can cope.
I'm a very positive person.  I love to see people smile, and whenever
possible, I will share one.  There are definitely times that I will
smile to keep from crying.  I feel that everyone deals with or has dealt
with tragedy at some point and time in their lives (these experiences
define us individually).  Not too many people can choose the way they
leave the face of the earth, and on one lives forever.  As I've said, I
love to live life and to love, but I'm not afraid to die.

I have no sense of panic or distress as I sit on death row now.  People
die daily.  Every day takes a positive focus, and I'm going to try to be
the son my parents raised to Love, the brother my brothers have Loved as
we've grown, and the man I am proud to be.  I'm going to do this with
not very much more than "sickness" - sickness that is my reality.  I
suffer from diabetes and must take two insulin shots daily, but this
sickness that is the system is what is taking its toll on me and many
others who sit on death row.

Texas is the execution capital of the world!  I'm not able to give you
specifics and statistics (for those who are interested, they are made
known by other sources).  I am writing this to express as well as
inform, and I can inform you that Texas is out of control.  Anybody
(anyday) that is a speaker of acting on the death penalty should be
speaking of and acting on Texas.  This is nothing less than mass murder
going on here!!  I know, more than many, of the corrupt, powerful,
political structure.  Then add the money, and it definitely makes for a
seemingly impossible fight to win (for justice), but I see it (Texas) as
a big bully picking on kids.  Sure one bully can bully one, two, even
three or more kids, but when or if all the kids come, they the bully
finds it more reasonable to back off and go away.  I basically have no
help in my situation, and I often will hear people say or get a letter
from someone advising me to organize - put those who are willing to help
in contact with each other.  I pass that advice on to all reading these
words who are truly sincere.  There are probably more groups and
organizations that are not doing what they should or could do to help us
(condemned men) in effective ways.  A lot is said that sounds good, and
men are being murdered here in Texas so regularly that it's seemingly
acceptable.  Prisoners who've had no proper defense during trial,
legally retarded men, men that have been set up by aggressive state
prosecutors (that are elevated in the political structure according to
their number of convictions), are being murdered.  They are killing men
here that have compelling evidence of innocence - not hearing the valid
arguments of the accused or convicted.  Defense attorneys appointed by
the courts (if they are sincere) are disgracefully underpaid and not
allowed the advantage of investigators, etc. to fight for justice.  It
is not even required by the Texas courts for the court appointed
attorneys to even defend their clients here in Texas now.  These are the
things that are causing the deaths of many men here in Texas.  It is
going to take an organized effort by all those who are dedicated and
sincere to end this madness in Texas.  I won't and can't say which
organizations (or people) are not dedicated and sincere, but if "you
are", it shouldn't be long before "you know"!!  No one owes me or
anybody who is on death row anything, so I, on behalf of every man
facing the death penalty, thank you for everything that you do in
protest.  We here in Texas need focused persistent effective organized
measures to be immediately taken, or murder will continue.

PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO HELP STOP THE KILLING!!!

Please write me at:

Derrick Jackson #999263
Polunsky Unit
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston, TX 77351

Justice for Jackson is a non-profit International
Campaign to raise support for the legal 
     defense
of Derrick Leon Jackson, a young man who was wrongly accused and 

     convicted
of a double homicide that took place nearly 10 years prior to his 

     indictment/conviction.
Derrick Jackson now sits on Texas Death Row and awaits the 
     appeal

process and possibly an execution date. 

     How did Mr. Jackson end up in this position? According to the states prosecution team
     “Old Science and New Science”. Not facts but the Texas Judicial Systems version of
     Science. The truth is that only scientific possibilities and a biased Texas Justice System
     gone totally out of control is the reason Mr. Jackson has been put in this position.

     Here are some facts that may interest you:

     - Mr. Jackson is a convicted felon/victim of the Texas war on crime, which has paid his
     debt to society, but not a murderer.

     - Mr. Jackson was charged with this crime 9 years after it was committed due to a
     computer-automated fingerprint.

     - This system revealed that Mr. Jackson’s fingerprint as well as 7 other individuals was
     possible matches to the one that was left at the scene of the crime.

     - That the individual who did this matching testified in open court that Mr. Jackson’s
     fingerprint was not a positive match to the one left at the scene of the crime.

     - That Mr. Johnny Holmes, former District Attorney, Harris County, for the state of
     Texas, is responsible for 42% of the Texas Death Row population and also responsible
     for the tragic injustice done to Mr. Jackson and his family.

     - Mr. Holmes and those in his jurisdiction (city officials) have been under fire for being
     guilty of and known for manufacturing evidence such as: evidence tampering, delivery
     of false reports and testimonies in capital murder trials and death penalty cases. He
     makes these requests through the states powerful, influential, and aggressive
     bloodthirsty attorneys appointed to prosecute these cases.

     - Such was the case during Mr. Jackson’s trial. An example of this is that an expert
     witness for the prosecution who testified to Mr. Jackson’s guilt due to the results of her
     DNA lab work. Minutes later, while being questioned by the defense counsel, she,
     Mrs. Childs, admitted to falsifying the DNA test results in her reports, and just prior
     lying to the jurors. When questioned as to why, she answered that it was at the request
     of her superiors in the attempt to convict Mr. Jackson. She said and I quote “I was just
     doing my job”

     Old Science (fingerprinting), and New Science (DNA). No facts, no witnesses, no
     concrete evidence, only at best the possibility of circumstantial evidence.

     Here are some facts, as well as other issues brought forth in Mr. Jackson’s appeal:

     The presiding Judge Burdette, over stepped his boundaries when he expressed his
     personal opinion to the jury and further more by repeatedly refusing to accept notes
     from the jury that they were dead-locked and could not agree on a verdict that would
     eventually send Mr. Jackson to death row. Here is a direct quote from Judge Burdette,
     “ you are here to do a job. You will do it so come back with a verdict.” He also
     refused several times, motions from Mr. Jackson’s lawyers requesting a mistrial as the
     injustices of the trial developed which are as follows”

     - The lack of insufficient evidence to prove Mr. Jackson’s guilt. Hard core basic
     evidence required putting a man on death row.

     - The legal constitutionality of the death penalty as it is applied in this case.

     - Mr. Jackson’s Constitutional Civil Rights being violated.

     Currently Derrick Leon Jackson sits on death row and as of May 26/00 has lost his
     first appeal. In addition to Mr. Jackson’s legal problems he suffers from a well-known
     condition called diabetes and is financially unable to provide for himself to maintain his
     health.

     Many who read this will find all of this information hard to believe because we as a
     society have a tendency to brush off distasteful issues such as this. Please I ask that you
     take the time to read further and consider this:

     - Texas has executed more people in the last 4 years than all other states combined in
     the same amount of time. Are we to believe that their Judicial System is superior to that
     of everywhere else? So superior that it has no flaws?

     - The same judge who has made sure that Mr. Jackson’s place of residence is death
     row has appointed Mr. Jackson’s appeal attorneys.

     - That a Motto of the “Good Old Boys” in Texas is: “We would rather kill 10 innocent
     men than to let one guilty man live”.

     We need your help to save the life of this innocent man as he awaits his fate. A
     non-profit International Campaign, Justice for Jackson, to raise funds and support for
     Mr. Jackson. Money is needed to secure proper legal representation. Organizational
     support is needed to insure a proper legal defense as well as proper up keep for his
     medical condition. Legal Assistance is needed. We are asking for this support through
     any donations that can be made so Mr. Jackson’s fate is not left in the hands of those
     who have already condemned him to die. Mr. Jackson and his family are victims of a
     blood thirsty, barbaric, biased Justice system that is totally out of control.

DERRICK LEON JACKSON'S PEN PAL REQUEST:

I am a 31 year old black male incarcerated on Texas' death row in Huntsville.
I would very much like to correspond with a pen pal in the hopes of building a truly genuine friendship, that I am very much in need of. I would prefer females 25-45, but men are equally welcomed to respond to this letter. Race/ ethnic or religious background are of no concern to me, only that the person responding is open to regular correspondence and building on a true friendship. Now to tell you a little about myself, I am a very easy going open minded person. I am very God fearing and optimistic, and I am a leader by nature. I am a very honest person and those are the types of people I choose to associate myself with.
I am from a very small family, and I am the oldest of  3 boys. I am a chef/ cook, and a barber stylist by trade, I am college educated, and very business minded.
I am a serious person, but I do have a sense of humor, and i enjoy nothing more
than to see a person smile. I am a people person, but I mostly enjoy interaction
with females on all levels.     My interests are basic, although I do enjoy the finer
things in life, the simple things are just as important to me.  I like mostly all sports, basketball and football are my favorites. I'm interested in mostly all
kinds of music and music videos. I like good movies, mostly romantic and comedy and I love to read good books and poetry. I enjoy all forms of basic social entertainment. Although I never married and don't have the pleasure
of having any of my own, I love children. In closing, I would like to thank you
very much for taking the time to read this introductory letter. Please be assured
that if you choose to respond, I will be open and totally honest to any inquiry that you may have for me. I hope to hear from you very soon in the hopes of establishing regular correspondence and more importantly, a true friendship.