NCJ Number
166073
Date Published
1995
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The mother of a death row inmate describes his case and the impact of his conviction on his family.
Abstract
Jeff was 18 when he was sentenced to death in Tennessee's electric chair. He and his friend Donald Strouth had been out riding when Strouth told Jeff to stop in front of a used clothing store so he could rob it. Strouth came running out of the store. His pants and hands were covered with blood. Strouth had robbed the man in the store of $200 and killed him. Jeff called his mother. She drove to Tennessee from North Carolina and hid the two men for two weeks. Jeff turned himself in and gave a statement to the detective. He did not believe that he needed to have an attorney present because he had not taken part in the crime. The prosecutors sought capital punishment for both. The testimony in Jeff's trial differed from that in Strouth's trial. The police sought the mother also, because she had planned to help her son escape from jail. The author has appeared on talk shows, has written five books about capital punishment, and has produced a videotape in which death row inmates talk to teenagers. She concludes that if she could live this experience again she would tell her son to run because she lacks trust in a justice system that murders juveniles, mentally retarded persons, and innocent people and will continue to do so until capital punishment is abolished as it has been in every other civilized country.