Do Not Execute Derrick Frazier!
Derrick Frazier
April 27, 2006
Texas
Derrick Frazier, a 28-year-old black man, faces an April execution date for the 1997 murder of Betsy Nutt and her son, Cody. The state alleges that Frazier and an accomplice, Jermaine Herron, robbed the Refugio County home of Nutt’s neighbor before approaching and speaking to Nutt. The two men asked her for a ride into town, then, as she was about to comply, they followed her into her house and Frazier allegedly pulled a gun. He is said to have shot Cody and Betsy Nutt to death. Thereafter, Frazier and Herron set the house on fire and left in Nutt’s truck.
The narrative presented above is the one upon which the state finally settled, but it is certainly not the only one which was considered. Throughout the course of the investigation, Jermaine Herron changed his story from an admission that he killed both victims, to a claim that Frazier killed them. In fact, the details of the crime were so uncertain that the indictment charging Frazier with capital murder was a composite of five different theories as to how he was guilty. Frazier argues that he was denied due process because the judge submitted these theories to the jury in a disjunctive manner, i.e. to reach a guilty verdict, the jurors need only vote guilty on any one theory. It may be that six jurors believed Frazier guilty on theory one, but not theory two, and six believed him guilty on theory two, but not theory one. The jurors agreed he was guilty, but didn’t necessarily agree why!
Frazier also raises an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. This is based on the fact that, although the prosecutor presented plenty of aggravating evidence, Frazier’s attorney did not investigate or present in court any mitigating circumstances. Frazier presented affidavits from his grandmother and aunt that argued that Frazier was basically a good person whose life had fallen into disarray upon the death of his mother. These affidavits suggest that there was genuine mitigating evidence available, had Frazier’s attorney bothered to search for it. What’s more, Frazier has been an exemplary prisoner since his conviction, providing further evidence to support the existence of mitigating information.
Derrick Frazier simply should not be on death row. Although the arguments Frazier makes may not be enough to prove that he is not guilty, they certainly highlight several weaknesses in the criminal justice system–the same system that continues to judge people unfit to live. We must not support such an imperfect judgment by allowing the state to execute Derrick Frazier.
Please write to Gov. Rick Perry on behalf of Derrick Frazier!
