Texas
November 2, 2004

Lorenzo Morris was executed on Nov. 2. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Mr. Morris and Mr. Jessee Fields.

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Lorenzo Morris, 52, on Nov. 2 for the 1990 burglary and 1991 death of Jesse Fields in Harris County. Fields, 71, passed away nine months after he was attacked in his home in what police say was an attempted robbery by Morris and his girlfriend, Judy Courtney. The police report of the incident states that the attacker struck Fields with a hammer several times, leaving him in a coma. Fields spent the nine months after the attack in a nursing home. He passed away in May 1991, one day after having surgery to amputate his gangrene-infected left foot.

Morris' defense centers around several issues, including an argument for his innocence, the problem of ineffective assistance of counsel, and violation of due process in that the jury did not hear any mitigating evidence on behalf of the accused, which might have persuaded them to vote against the death penalty.

Morris was assigned a former Harris County prosecutor to serve as his defense counsel. Despite the fact that the prosecution presented information that the head trauma Fields suffered caused his death, the defense failed to hire a medical expert to present a counter argument. It was only after Morris' case reached the federal level that a leading neurologist was hired to review Fields' hospital and nursing home records to determine his actual cause of death. Dr. Anand Mehendlale stated that Fields was declared neurologically stable as early as Sept. 1990, meaning that he suffered no ongoing neurological problems. This is crucial to Morris' defense, as a stable neurological condition cannot cause a new harm, including death. Moreover, Dr. Mehendlale's findings support the evidence of Field's primary physician at the nursing home, Dr. Alfred Louis. Dr. Louis reported that Fields died of natural causes due to pulmonary disease and gangrene. He also stated that Fields had recovered from his skull fractures.

The case against Morris is further hindered by the fact that no evidence regarding his background was presented to the jury in the sentencing phase of his trial. His trial attorneys neither investigated his past nor requested that the Court allow the jury to hear such mitigating evidence when deciding whether or not inflict a death sentence. In fact, Morris' background was full of drugs, alcoholism, and violence. He grew up in a large yet distant family with a mother who drank heavily and was physically abused by his father, who was also an alcoholic. Morris and his siblings turned to the streets of their poor and extremely violent neighborhood, using drugs to forget about the horrors at home. Lorenzo dropped out of school and joined the army at 16, where he endured more violence and drug use in Vietnam. After his return to the U.S., Morris met co-defendant Judy Courtney, who introduced him to crack cocaine. Morris was under the influence of crack cocaine when the two went to Field's home on the day of the assault. Although this information may have been important or influential for the jury to hear at his trial, Lorenzo Morris' attorneys failed to produce it.

Pursuant to Texas law, if evidence is not brought to light during the trial or subsequent pleadings at the state level, that evidence cannot be heard by any court unless it displays strong proof of innocence, could not have been discovered at the time of trial, or is a violation of the US Constitution. Consequently, Morris' current counsel has faced great difficulty in allowing the truth surrounding his case to be presented to any court.

Compounded by the fact that Harris County, Texas is currently in the midst of controversy surrounding its handling of evidence in capital cases, the execution of Lorenzo Morris should not even be in question. In August, Harris county officials found 280 boxes of evidence related to 8,000 criminal cases. Not all of these boxes have been identified and searched. Morris' attorneys contend that some of these missing boxes might contain evidence for his case, which could possibly provide DNA evidence to prove that Morris was not even the attacker of Fields. Judy Courtney, acknowledged to be the co-actor in the crime, may have been the person who actually attacked Jesse Fields. More time is required to know if this is the case.

The Harris County police department's loss and subsequent finding of boxes of evidence are deplorable. There are serous questions as to whether this is even a murder case, and if the accused is guilty of the crime. The intended execution of Lorenzo Morris is appalling. Please write to Governor Rick Perry of Texas and request a stay of execution