CRIMINAL JUSTICE GROUPS SAY INNOCENT MAN MAY BE EXECUTED, ASK FOR RELIEF IN CHARLIE ALSTON CASE

COALITION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 20, 2001 CONTACTS:
Gerda Stein
Center for Death Penalty Litigation
919.789.0401
Janine Fodor
Attorney
716.372.0798

CRIMINAL JUSTICE GROUPS SAY INNOCENT MAN MAY BE EXECUTED, ASK FOR RELIEF IN CHARLIE ALSTON CASE

Raleigh, NC - December 20, 2001. A coalition of criminal justice organizations today asked that the execution of Charlie Alston, scheduled for January 11, be put on hold pending resolution of numerous questions about the case, foremost of which is his innocence. "The fundamental concept of fairness demands that the state give Charlie Alston enough time to prove his innocence," says Ken Rose, Director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. "This is clearly one of the most flawed capital cases we've seen in North Carolina."

In particular, the groups want the state to produce evidence they say could exonerate Alston - fingernail scrapings from the victim that likely include DNA from the perpetrator. The Warren County Sheriff's Department says the scrapings have been lost. In July, North Carolina passed the Innocence Protection Act, which requires law enforcement agencies to preserve evidence and give inmates access to DNA testing. "I'm deeply concerned that Mr. Alston's inability to get relief is contrary to the intentions of the DNA bill," says Rep. Paul Luebke, who supported the legislation. "If we are to protect the rights of the innocent, we need to resolve the question of what happens when crucial evidence somehow disappears."

"DNA bills such as the one passed in North Carolina guarantee the rights of inmates to have evidence tested that may be pivotal in their defense," adds Ajamu Baraka, Southern Regional Director of Amnesty International. "We urge the courts and the state to uphold those rights in the case of Mr. Alston."

Convicted of killing Pamela Perry of Warren County in 1990, Alston has always denied involvement in the crime and wants the DNA tests performed. The case against him was entirely circumstantial, notes Steven Hawkins, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "Charlie Alston was sentenced to death despite the fact that not a single shred of evidence tied him to the crime scene," Hawkins says. "There is no evidence he was at the crime scene. There is no evidence linking him to a murder weapon. There are no fingerprints, no direct eyewitness testimony, no physical evidence of any sort. Nothing."

Missing evidence isn't the only troubling aspect of Alston's case. Other evidence that pointed away from him, including eyewitness testimony and fingerprints, was ignored. His trial attorneys failed to review the Sheriff's department files and did little else on his behalf. One of his appeals attorneys missed a crucial filing deadline because of substance abuse problems that resulted in commitment to Dorothea Dix and eventual disbarment. "This is a classic death penalty case - flawed from top to bottom," says Ken Rose.

Alstonís attorneys are asking the courts to grant him a stay until the fingernail scrapings are produced. If the evidence has been permanently lost or destroyed, they want Alston to get a new trial or have his sentence commuted to life. In addition to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, other groups supporting their efforts include Rev. Eddie Lawrence and Greenwood Baptist Church in Warrenton, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, Charlotte Coalition for a Moratorium Now, Common Sense Foundation, Carolina Justice Policy Center, Wake County Coalition for a Moratorium Now, North Carolinians Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Three North Carolina inmates, including two murder suspects, were freed by DNA evidence earlier this year. Nationwide, DNA tests have exonerated more than 90 convicted inmates, including 11 on death rows in Maryland, Illinois, Oklahoma, Virginia, Florida and Idaho. # # # Return to Press Releases