NCJ Number
166068
Date Published
1995
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Gary Graham is a death row inmate in Texas who was 17 years old when he allegedly murdered Bobby Grant Lambert in 1981; Graham has always maintained his innocence and was convicted solely on the basis of the highly questionable identification by a single witness.
Abstract
No other physical or circumstantial evidence connected Gary to the crime, and three other eyewitnesses to the shooting in a grocery store parking lot could not identify Gary. The crime took place at approximately 9:30 p.m. on May 13, 1981. A ballistics test conducted by the Houston police revealed conclusively that the bullet that killed Lambert was not fired from the gun taken when Gary was arrested. Gary was represented by a court-appointed attorney. Neither the attorney nor the attorney's investigator interviewed the alibi witnesses listed by Gary. However, the Texas governor granted a 30-day reprieve as a result of the questions raised in the case. Gary's attorneys have requested a hearing before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles; the Board has refused to consider the case so far. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution in 1993 pending the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in case of Dorsey Johnson v. Texas.