gditor - Voice For The Defense Online

Crlmmal Appeals m Austin called theTexas Department of Corrections inHuntsville with orders to halt the execution,it was discovered that no one at theTDC was aware an execution was scheduledfor the next day.Holmes knew it, Banks was awatimg it,the vartous judges and prosecutors wereall expecting the lethal mjection. Butsomehow, the TDC had not received adeath warrant. The case became almostinstantly infamous as "The Execut~onThat No One Showed Up For.""Why the hell are we in such a hurryto kill these people?" says Hohnes now."It was way too close. It's scary, it'swild."Like other death row lawyers, Holmessays these dramatic last-minute staysasidefrom making good fodder for themedia-put gray hairs on his head. Andthey also reveal for him the humanitybehind the condemned person."It's kind of an ultimate trust, andyou feel it from them in the way theylook at you and the way they talk to you,"he says. "In fact, not just conceptuallybut in fact, they have said, here is my life,you are responsible for it."I read where one lawyer went downand viewed an execution," he says. "I'venever had one executed, but I can guaranteeyou, I won't he there. Ain't no way.I couldn't watch it. I just couldn't."He points to a client's correspondenceon hu desk. It is from Emmett Murrayvmcenrrerini: "rou rme on the burdens m ms man. snouraerin~ -it together. It's like &rying &tist s cross."10 VOICEfor the Defense/November 1984Holloway, on death row for the murderof a policeman. "Murray and I are fnends.He sends me letters with those little happyfaces on them. Heas just a sweet man,"says Holmes. "When I agree to undertakea client's case, I accept that trust he putsin me and try to do the best I can. I getpersonally involved, extremely personallyinvolved. I believe you can understand,and I don't mean condone, but understandwhat they did and why they did it."Richard Anderson provides a partialanswer for the motivations of attorneyssuch a Holmes; "Do we have a legal oh&gation to represent these people? Not atall. Do we have an ethical obhgation?That's up to the different lawyers tovdecide."INCENT PERINI IS ONE ofDallas' most prominent crinunaldefense attorneys. Often, peoplemention Perini and Me1 Bruder as the"grand old men" of Dallas capitalpunishmentcases. Perini is a former president ofthe Criminal Defense Iawyers Association,and he helped write the Effective Assistance of Counsel Act, which, in part, aimsto improve compensation for appomtedattorneys.As of this writmg, Perini representsRonald Chambers, sentenced in DallasCounty for the beating death of MikeMcMahon, a 22-year-old Texas Te~h engineeringstudent.Though he 1s concerned with ensuringthat crimmal defense attorneys get paidfor their work, Perini is also worriedabout the psychological wear and tear onattorneys representing people societyseems to have given up on."These are very heavy numbers," saysPerini. "You become a Christ figure. Youtake on the burdens of thu man, shoulderingit together. It's like carrying Christ'scross." Perini descnies the network ofpeople involved in the death row legal fraternityas "kind of a righteous underground.It has all the elements of earlyChristianity ."Other attorneys forego the religiousreferences, referring to death penaltycases simply as major "life changes." RonGoranson, Morrow's co-counsel alongwith 35-year-old Bill Bratton, has beenappointed to fou death penalty cases.(continued on page 15)